Really Jax? Again?
Well, Yes!
Don’t you ever want to throw things at your kids? They’ve just been so… so… you know… that you just need to throw something at them with the intent to hit them?
Well I do, often! As often as I can actually.
In fact, it is one of our favorite games!
Frisbee, the Jensen Way
There aren’t a lot of physical things I can do with my kids. But I can throw a Frisbee still! This has been one of favorite games for years… since Caitlin and Joshua were the ages of Andrew and Steven. If you want to have just a wonderful time with your kids, here is how we play:
I find a good spot to sit that won’t hurt my back too much. The kids gather a few Frisbees, but never more than the number of kids playing.
Randomly pick which kids get to go first. Those kids will, one at a time, hand me their Frisbee. I count to three while they run away. At “THREE” I throw the Frisbee at them, trying to touch any portion of them with it.
The other kids kind of scatter out on the lawn and wait their turn. Anytime I miss a kid with a Frisbee, that Frisbee becomes fair game and the first person to get to it, picks it up and bring it to me. As soon as they hand it to me, I start counting and they run.
If I hit a kid, they are NOT allowed to pick up THAT Frisbee, but are free to pick up any other Frisbee nearby. And so it is a continual round of running and laughter and fun for everybody. Even Caitlin (15) and Steven (3) have a great time trying to elude my throws and beat their siblings to errant throws so that they get a turn again.
Great Fun For All
For me it is nice to be able to play some sort of sport with the kids. For them, I hope they enjoy the time spent playing with me. It is one we’ve done for hours at a time, making subtle changes as circumstances allow. (Before I became injured I used to do it standing as well and we’d keep track of points. 1 point for me if I hit them, a point for them if I missed. Use your imagination!)
Julie isn’t a great thrower, but she joins in occasionally. We’ve been playing every night this week and the last two nights she joined in. I think she was feeling slightly left out of all the laughter and fun – there is a lot of it!
The kids are all very good about making sure everyone gets a turn. If they see someone starting to sulk because they haven’t been able to get a Frisbee lately they will gladly hand one over. It’s been fantastic to watch them do it, without parental suggestion, and watch the love bonding the kids together as younger sibling looks up at the older ones with love and appreciation for the Frisbee. It is great!
If you are afraid that I might hurt the young kids with a hard plastic Frisbee, don’t fret! We have 2 soft rubber ones that we use and that the littlest kids get most often. We have a normal Frisbee for the older kids too (it is more accurate for the distances they can travel in just 3 seconds!). And if a little kid comes with the hard Frisbee it isn’t hard to just adjust the power of the throw so that nobody gets hurt.
I might be throwing things at my kids, but I don’t intend to hurt them at all. Just hit them repeatedly!
So if you ever drive by and see me throwing stuff at my kids as they run away screaming… all is well. No need to call protective services… we’re having the time of our lives!