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A few years ago we were introduced to the game "Banana." It is basically Slug Bug but with points instead of hitting. As it was originally introduced to us the point system was complicated and we hardly ever played. So we revamped the point system and now all the kids except the baby play along. It is a constant part of our car trips, the perpetual game. But it has brought character deficiencies to the surface. The 5yo has claimed my husband as his constant partner because my husband, and by default his team, always wins. For awhile the older boys were okay with this. They realized that 5yo wasn't going to win without some help. Now the 8yo is showing great desire to win. In the past we have always played one game all day long. Today, the 8yo decided to restart for the trip home from church. As our side again falls behind, he decided to restart when we drop of our carpool passenger. At this point I inform him if he is going to be a sore loser that I don't want to be on his team anymore. This is new behavior for him so I am going to have to see what it is rooted in and try to work on solving it. For me Banana is just a family thing, like an inside joke. When the boys were away at day camp the last two weeks I would see a banana and go to call it and realize it was just me and the baby and miss my older boys. I hope they don't ruin this little past time with their competitiveness. For anyone who wonders what in the world Banana or Slug Bug might be. A "Banana" is any V W Bug.In the original game, Slug Bug, players would slug each other when they saw one. Obviously with so many boys this is recipe for disaster so we play for points. A V W is worth one point all on its own. Being old model, yellow or soft top are each worth an additional point. So, an old yellow convertible would be worth 4 points, a new yellow or a new softop of some other color would be 2 points etc.. Since this is the perpetual game that we have been playing for so long every now and then we add something new to the rules to make it interesting. Our recent addition was to make all V W Vans worth 5 points. My husband hasn't lost a game since... |
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