Cat and Mouse... The Good Old Days

So I sometimes wonder what happened to the good old days when I was younger... the days of being able to play for hours with merely the couch cushions or old day-planner pages for props. Yes, my cousins and I would spend hours making forts with blankets and couch cushions and I can't even count the times we played "office" using my dads old day planners and outdated checks. Jordan somehow always put himself in the role of president with my cousin Ryan being his Vice. Preston was the Treasurer and I was secretary. Being secretary, one of my jobs was to keep the other members of our "company" supplied with grandmas special red punch.

Suffice it to say, when we were younger, we didn't have the Wii or Nintendo and I-pods to occupy our time. We had to make our own fun and boy did we ever. I recall building a dam in my cousins back yard numerous summers and yes, we did go swimming in it.

Another time, with the help of our older cousins, we created some dance numbers and presented a large production for all parents and grandparents, costumes and all. One of my favorite past times was playing cops and robbers on our bikes. We didn't complain about what we didn't have and you would never hear us say we were bored. We just created our own fun where ever we went.

As I babysat my 8 nieces and nephews last weekend we resorted back to this type of "fun." All of us spent some time scouring the house for the following item: random pieces of string, wiffle balls, popcorn kernels, the lid to a pan and dice. It's amazing what games can be created with just a few random household items. Using our plethora of props, Geoffrey taught the kids to play a game called "Cat and Mouse."

The "cat" would roll the dice and all of the mice (wiffle balls) were put into the middle with the string attached. If the cat rolled a one or a six, then the mice had to scatter before being caught. However, if a mouse scattered without a one or six being rolled, then they had to give a popcorn kernel to the cat. If they got away from the cat however, they received an extra popcorn kernel. The one with the most popcorn kernels at the end was the winner.

If we could only all be as simple as little kids who can find fun in just about anything... check out the video below to get a glimpse into the fun. Geoffrey is the cat and all of the kids are the mice...