Playing "Quest"

Prepare for battle, lion monster!

Inevitably, some time around 5:30 my six-year-old says, "Mommy, will you play a game with me?" I admit, not to my credit, that I often try to get out of it because by that time of day I am tired and hungry and I do not want to play Battleship or Chutes and Ladders while my older son, D-Mac, constantly tries to change the rules so he'll win and my three-year-old, Ducky, ignores the rules completely and bickering ensues.

But yesterday, when I asked D-Mac what game he had in mind, he said he wanted to go on a quest. Now that was something I could play along with! We gathered equipment - a rope for D-Mac, a belt for me, and invisible spikes for Ducky (raise your hands in the air, elbows bent, fingers pointing up, and say "Invisible spikes!") - and set out to face the challenges D-Mac devised. First we had to climb a crystal mountain (the stairs). Then we fought invisible ninjas, battled a lion monster, escaped from sharks, and finally climbed across a cave rigged with bombs to retrieve a flag.

Each challenge took place in a different room; we wandered around the house using whatever we found in that room as part of the challenge. There was no sitting still, no waiting for turns, and we got to make up the rules as we went along (within reason - D-Mac still tried to change his own rules when things didn't go his way). By the time we'd captured the flag it was time for dinner.

I'm looking forward to going on another quest today.