Childhood Games

Games that I played with my younger sister and the spiritual learning I gained from them

As a child, I felt blessed because I lived with my best friend — my little sister Sara. In an earlier story, I described her as “a sunny” kid, and it still fits her perfectly. She also tended then toward independence, and she had knowledge about herself and her place in the world. She provided a balance to my childish uncertainty and fearfulness.

Much of the time, when we weren’t in school, we played wonderful games together. Many of these games came from imaginative minds — minds reflecting the creativity of our talented parents.

Mama wrote amazing letters and helped Daddy in the hand silk-screen shop they built together using the unfired adobe bricks they had made by hand. As a young woman, she also danced in a modern dance group led by a woman who originally danced with Martha Graham, the famous dancer who originated today’s modern dance. After they retired, she took creative writing and art classes at the local community college. When she relaxed, she usually had a book in her hands and her reading glasses on her nose.

Daddy also read quite frequently, though the newspaper or magazines provided more of his reading material. Working on his painting and sculpture occasionally, we usually found him cutting stencils in the screen-printing shop, actually printing using those stencils or cleaning the screens with horrible-smelling solvents.

Now, here are some of our games described as if we are still playing them:

Indoor Games

The Spy Game

“OK, Tetro, yeah, she’s brushing her blond hair right now. Oh, now she’s turning towards me. Yeah, today she’s got on a blue top and some green shorts and purple flip-flops. OK, Tetro, yeah, I’ll keep an eye on her. Thanks! Over and out.”

My younger sister and I are playing one of our favorite games in the old raw adobe house just off the Rillito River’s banks, for which my parents made the adobe bricks to expand the one room they purchased with the acre of our land. Only one house lies between us and the river.

It’s raining out, so we can’t go down to the riverbed to play the way we normally do. That means winter has come because during the summer monsoon rains we enjoy running around and splashing in the puddles. The summer rains bring joy to us and all the inhabitants — plant and animal — of our desert home.

Sara, my younger sister — towheaded just like me and a few years younger — however, she’s almost as tall as I am. That frustrates me. Sometimes I try to stretch myself taller by hanging from the top bunk of our bunkbeds but it never helps.

We find it very hard when we can’t go outside to play. Both of us spend most of our time outside whenever we can.

As I’m holding a hand to my mouth as if I were talking into a microphone, I’m crouched behind an old green wooden door leading into our bedroom. Right now, I am playing the part of the spy. In a little while, we’ll switch roles in the game, and Sara will take over being the spy, and I will be the person being observed.

What did I learn from this game? Perhaps the most important thing was that we are never totally alone. There is always a benign, divine entity watching over us.

We can spend untold hours playing this game. And there are others we also played while confined to the house by the weather.

Statue

Another favorite house game we call “Statue”. In this game, one of us plays the part of the witch, and the other plays her slave. While the witch stays in the hall that connects our bedroom with the living room, she spies on the slave who works away in the bedroom. Then the witch comes in, and the slave must freeze in whichever position she is in. Of course, the witch tries to get her in the most uncomfortable position possible. Then, the poor slave must hold that position until the witch says she can relax.

What did I learn from this game? Well, I learned that I don’t want to be caught in an uncomfortable position and that is especially true when forces of evil are involved, like Satan or his minions! Both the Quran and the Bible describe him as the enemy. Please see Quran 2:208 and Matthew 4:1–10.

Washing Dishes For the Witch

We played another witch-related game when the time to wash the dishes together arrives. In that game we both play the role of slaves. We know we must get the dishes done quickly before the witch comes back and punishes us if we don’t finish in time. That game does seem to help get the dishes washed more quickly so we can go out and play with our neighborhood friends until bedtime.

What did I learn from this game? If we do the things that might not be as enjoyable first, we have may more time for what we do enjoy and those things that lift our heart toward God.

Dancing For Each-other

Sometimes, in the evenings, we will go out to our parents’ silkscreen shop on the other side of the sandy circular driveway. There, in the cool dust and subdued light, we play a dancing game. We take turns dancing for each other. Sometimes the radio still plays the classical music station, and we dance to that. Otherwise, we pretend or hum our own music. Our dances are always very dramatic and often end up with death scenes, which at our ages, we especially enjoy.

What did I learn from this game? There are very sound spiritual principles that indicate giving pleasure to others makes us happier ourselves.

A Game Played When In The Back Of The Car

A pretend radio show forms one of our favorite games played in the car. One of us plays the announcer, and the other plays the parts of the various guests.

It goes something like this as I begin: “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Interview Hour. Brought to you by our sponsors, Tidy Clean, the best darn soap you can use.

Now let’s get started with our first guest, Mrs. Gloria Gorilla. So, Mrs. Gorilla, please tell us what you do all day here in our fair town.”

Sara then speaks up in a rather rumbly voice, “Well, I swing from tree to tree in the park. When I get tired of swinging, I usually make my way over to the little store on the corner and buy some bananas for lunch. Once I’ve eaten all the peels, sometimes I’m stuck having to eat that yucky inner stuff. But sometimes there’ll be a nice little kid I can give it to. I don’t know what you humans see in that gunk.” And then she makes a very disgusted noise.

I continue, “Well, that’s very interesting. And what do you do with the rest of the day?”

Sara replies, “Oh, I watch TV or sometimes read. Eventually, the kids come home from school and tell me about their day, and I start fixing dinner.”

I pick up again, “Thank you very much for sharing with us, Mrs. Gorilla. Now I see the time for our next guest has come. Here he comes now. It is our great fortune to have with us tonight the world-famous cowboy Mr. Hip-along Joe. Welcome to our show, Mr. Joe.”

Sara then says something like, “Thank you, thank you. I’m glad to be here.” At this point, her sweet little voice tries to take on a western twang.

“Congratulations on your new championship. Tell me, Mr. Joe, how does it feel to be the world champion lariat thrower?”

“Pretty darn good, thanks. All those years of practice sure paid off. Remember that, you kids listening at home. You just keep practicing, and eventually you, too, can do something great with your life!”

“Well, thank you, Mr. Joe, for sharing that wisdom with us. And now it’s time for a word from our sponsor.”

Usually, by this time, our parents are more than ready for us to stop playing and tell us to start reading our comic books so they can talk up in the front seat.

What did I learn from this game? I learned there are many wonderful types of people and other creatures in the world. It’s much more enjoyable to honor the diversity that God has provided for us rather than expecting everyone to be the same.

Thank you for reading about some of the games Sara and I played as chldren. Writing about them brought back wonderful memories. God willing, I hope you’ve enjoyed them.