I’ll wake Daddy’s ass whenever I feel like it
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I like playing games but we never had any at our house or if we did no one played them with me. The only game I remember playing as a kid was “Life” and that was at my friend Karen’s house. So naturally, I feel the need to fulfill my own childhood wishes now that I have kids.
That’s part of why I bought a game called “Don’t Wake Daddy.” My seven-year-old told me she really wanted this game and I envisioned spending hours playing it with her so I set my sights on getting it. It turned out there are many other children in Michigan who wanted that game as well because I had to do some intense research to find it.
Word around the campfire is that the game is being discontinued so they’re selling off the current inventory. Enter the law of supply and demand. If you want this game — it is a fun game — I suggest you buy it now. I ended up driving 20 miles to get it and after the money changed hands I felt like I secured the Holy Grail. It’s mine now and you’ll have to pry it out of my cold, bony fingers.
So when we first opened it I imagined the world of fun just waiting for us. And it did start out that way.
We all picked a girl game piece (there are four girls and four boys so you can pick the correct gender) and the youngest player spun the wheel.
The goal of the game is to get to the refrigerator without waking the dad. You spin the dial, land on a color and move your game piece to that color. If you land on a spot with a screaming cat/baby/radio/etc. and a number, you have to press the alarm clock that many times.
Sometimes the dad pops up and sometimes he doesn’t. If he doesn’t pop up on your turn you’re safe and you keep on heading to the fridge on your next turn. If he does pop up you have to go back to the start.
I’m competitive; I like the challenge that the alarm clock presents. But my four-year-old is not competitive so she freaked out (and cried at times) when the dad popped up. That meant she and I played as one while she sat in my lap clinging to me.
That was still cool until my middle kid woke the dad and had to go back to the start. She was not happy. My oldest kid was into it until she had to go back to the beginning.
Then the yelling and tears began; everyone was pissed when the dad woke up. But I still wanted to play the game. I just like playing games; it really doesn’t matter to me if I win or lose. Unless I’m playing with my husband — then I play to win.
So I had to think fast to keep that game going. I turned the tables on the dad and smack talked him while I pressed the alarm clock. “Wake up Daddy — I’m goin’ to the fridge to get some cake, gingah!” I yelled. And he stayed right where he was, sleeping in bed.
Eventually he woke up and sent me back but not before I told him I wanted to wake him up so I was the real winner. My kids laughed, we kept playing and I felt like the dad lost every time I woke him up.
Turns out this game is a win-win. I get to play and my kids don’t cry when the dad is jarred awake. I’m on a boat, baby!
Tags: Things that actually make me happy, Things that are fun!
I remember the commercials for this one, but I never played it. I can see how it might make you spazz a bit when the dad pops up, if you are easily startled (as many little kids … and me … are).
I always liked Operation.
I HATE Monopoly though. Don’t ever ask me to play Monopoly … I get bored with it after about two turns. I’ve never finished a game.
I’d never heard of this one before my kid mentioned it. It is sort of fun but can be anxiety provoking when you’re trying to slip by the dad. I agree with Monopoly; I couldn’t get into owning property and all that jazz.
Ooooh, I’m coming over–I LOVE games!!
I remember those games that surprise you (Perfection, Operation, Don’t Break the Ice, etc) were always so loud. Was it the game or my little kid ears?? The neighbor kids have Operation and that buzzer doesn’t sound half as loud as when we were kids.
We always play games here. I remember one Christmas break when we started off playing “Sorry”. Never failed–some kid was always crying when they got “Sorry’ed”. Then the other kid would cry when they got it. Criminy, somebody was always crying. Well, everyone but me. Sheesh, it’s just part of the game!
So, I did what any other great mom would do—I made them play Sorry every single day of break until somebody didn’t cry. (Enter therapy) Those kids STILL talk about that Christmas break. Yeah, good times.
At least I’m making memories.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the makers of those noise making games lowered the decibel level for today’s kids.
I got a great game while at my getaway in Lake Geneva. It’s called “Shut The Box”. It’s eco-friendly and made of bamboo, but that’s not why I bought it. It’s a dice game that’s not only a dice game, but math and strategy. My girlfriend and I envisioned it as a great shot drinking game, but without the shots and with the kids it’s still fun. The idea is to shut down as many of the tiles numbered 1-9 as you can by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing your dice rolls until you get a roll where you can’t shut down anymore. Any tiles left are your total, then it’s the next person’s turn. The lowest total wins.
we have that game too, except ours is called double shutter (there are two rows of numbers). Someone gave it to us as a gift and I was amazed that even my 3-yr-old can play it!
@Lin I think I need to buy Sorry. Do you remember that Carol Burnett skit where Eunice, Ed and Momma play Sorry? I remember Eunice ring the bell and screaming, “SORRY! SORRY!” Classic.
“I took all the little men out of the box.”
@Lola That game is triggering my math anxiety. But I might have to give it a try anyway. I also thoroughly enjoyed this line in your comment:
It’s eco-friendly and made of bamboo, but that’s not why I bought it.
@Soonerchick Alright, if your three-year-old can play it I should be able to master it, since I have 39 years of experience on him.
lol…Way to adapt!! I’ll have to keep that in mind. My nieces love to play games but it always becomes some sort of power struggle between them. The 8 yo usually wins since she’s the oldest. The 6 yo doesn’t like losing (who does) and as a result will often refuse to play a second time or at all if the 8 yo is playing.
I have to admit that I was a confused at first because you said that you were competitive but then but don’t if you win or lose. To me being competitive basically implies that you want to win but after I woke up a little more and the caffeine started kicking in, it made more sense.
It is hard to get kids to play and enjoy it since they all want to win. I will admit it’s very difficult for me to squash my competitive spirit with my kids but I do try.
I had never heard of this game – maybe its a US thing lol. I used to play board games with my Dad loads but he would always win. We’ve started having like impromptu family games nights on a Saturday (however they seem to have been put on hiatus while Doctor Who is on lol.) It was awesome because my brother would actually put down the controller and step away from the xBox for the evening lol.
Even my friend from church started coming (it got to the point where there was me, That Boy, Mum, Dad, The Stig, The Kiwi and 3 friends around my Mum’s dining room table lol.
That’s interesting that we have different games. For some reason (probably ’cause you speak English) I always assume Britain is like the US and has most of the same stuff. That’s my dream — that my kids will enjoy Game Night when they’re all old enough to really play games (and not get bored in five minutes.)
It’s only now that we’re in our twenties that this games night has come about – our housemate introduced us to Risk and that is so much better than Monopoly and can take most of the evening if you try hard enough lol. I haven’t won yet though.
I can see how the kids need to be older to really get into the games. But I still like playing them nowadays, but I just wish they didn’t get so angry when they lose or when they get sent back to the start.
The fun is supposed to be in playing it, not winning it. Well at least not when you’re playing kids.
I love board games. I can’t tell you how many we had growing up. But we were very sheltered when it came to entertainment exposure so we played board games and read…a lot. I was fond of Clue and Scattergories.
Way to save the day. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed that when I was 4 either.
I love the idea of Clue but I know I hardly ever played it. I just like saying, “It was Professor Plum in the pantry with the lead pipe.”
Oh goodness, you could have had my 10? 15? year old copy of the game. You know, I don’t think 21 is that old until I realize I can measure my childhood in a decade.
Anyway, SORRY! was our family bane of existence. My brother would (every time) purposefully send me back, whether it was strategic or not. So then, I got mad, hit him, then my mom would get mad, and by the end of the night everyone was in a bad mood. I think Clue was a little calmer.
I think “Sorry” causes a LOT of family fights apparently. It does ours….to this day.
@Heidi I’m impressed that you still have it! It is crazy when you can say “I remember ten years ago when…” and you have a vivid memory. And then it just gets crazier when you can say, “I remember 20 years ago, 30 years ago, etc.”
Now that I’m hearing more about Sorry I might *not* have to get it. I could see my middle kid learning that strategy and pissing the rest of us off. Maybe Clue would be better for us. I do love a good mystery.
@Lin I actually don’t think I could handle that game, which is surprising to me since I am so competitive. I’m glad I wrote this post.
That sounds like a fun game. I’d like for my kids to play the live, real life version. :)
That would be good. And if they were playing “Don’t wake Mommy,” I’d let them get to the cake in the fridge every time.
I’m certain I’m dating myself here, but back in the dark ages, when VCRs were still what all the cool kids had, we had a game called Video Clue. It was Clue, but on VHS. I don’t really remember how it worked, but I do remember thinking that it was the coolest thing ever to play a board game with a videotape.
*Side note: my mom gave my boys all the VHS tapes of cartoons that my sister and I used to watch, so I dredged up the ol’ VCR and my boys loved it. Mostly because they thought they were watching relics of a past civilization. *rolls eyes* Yep, that’s me. A relic of a past civilization. I guess there are worse things. :)
I remember seeing the commercial for that tape!! I still don’t get how you could play it from a tape unless you have a joystick so you can choose different scenarios. But that sounds like fun, too. I guess those sorts of games were precursors to the Nintendo DS, eh?
I used to love playing this game hehe. I don’t remember if I had it though, I think my friends Maggie and Colleen had it though.
Seems like there’s always one kid who owns all of the games and hosts all of the kids. That was my friend Karen. I loved going to her house.
[...] it down and then sweep up the food that fell on the floor. After playing a few board games — Don’t Wake Daddy and Cranium Triple Triumph — they’d yawn and tell me they were going to bed. And then [...]