August 6, 2019
Frogger!
Christina is jumping up and down with excitement in front of my bedroom door as Louis, Thea, and I are laying on top of the bed after church and lunch. On Sunday, we usually talk about stuff and share a bit about each others’ week while he powernaps (how can he do that with his eyes open?) and I feed Thea.
“The Flea Market is open until 4!” Christina announces. She’s been wanting to go for a few weeks now, yet we’ve always been too busy & yesterday we built the middle girls their new bed.
So we get to the Flea Market and she zooms to the one spot we always get our games from (always… I haven’t been there in over 2 years). This guy has been in business for over 14 years – sold Becky her second PS1 and our current PS2. Christina has been slowly building a game system & game disc collection of her own. Today both Christina and Becky pull out their debit cards. (This feels weird, as my teens are buying stuff with their own debit cards with their own money!)
I’m a bit proud, a bit sad.
Proud because Christina is managing college, CAP (2nd Lieutenant now), homeschool, work, and friends mostly on her own and doing a good job at it Proud because Becky raises sweet, lovable Guinea Pigs (Kimberly and Jillian are also partners in this venture), juggles college classes, gymnastics, and her interests well.
Sad because this additional sign of independence just shows me how quickly they are growing.
Usually Sunday is a no-tech day, but since we spent yesterday building the bed and deep cleaning, we allowed video games today.
That’s how we got home, have all 7 children on the couch watching Christina and Becky “test” the two Lego Star Wars PS2 discs, enjoying the four slushies Becky bought while I got gas. Sharing treats, laughing at the games, and enjoying each other’s company – I love this!
Then out comes Christina’s reason for going in the first place… she displays the original PS1 frogger game with a flourish and jumps up and down. “Remember this game, Becky?” And they laugh.
It’s the first game they remember Uncle Buddy playing with them when he brought in their first PS1. They played that one as a 4-player for years (with the special “L” shaped extra Christina didn’t find this trip). They played that with Aunt Mary and Aunt Stacy at the little house behind the Winn Dixie.
Christina says, “Mom, the memories attached to this game are priceless!”
I smiled. So true. I remember playing this with my brothers and sisters (the only 4-player at the time) and the crazy laughter that happened with “bees bees all sorts of bees” and “racing cars” and “the hippos and crocs” and all the other fun nicknames for the levels we had.
I’m watching now as they do another popular big family thing with fast games – pass the controller around after each “death” – taking turns and laughing…
Oh, now they’ve changed frogger’s name to “Gerald” – and keep lauging… “Off the rock, Gerald!” “Not there, Gerald!” (occasionally tossing in other lines from Finding Dory too… my crazy, fun, family!)
Type at you next time,
~Nancy Tart
