Do You Sell Prince Albert in a Can?

My daughter, Pip and I sat in church watching a little boy play with a folded up paper, like origami, where his fingers fit into the slots and he asked, "Pick a number" then counted; and then he asked, "Pick a color" and spelled out the color; then he asked a question and had the answer revealed under a folded corner.

Pip exclaimed how she played the same game when she was younger--not that she's that old now--and 35+ years ago, I played it too. And, in much the same fashion.

This got us thinking...How many generations of kids have played the same Urban games?

How about the "string game?" My daughter calls it "Cat in a cradle". We explained the game to my mom and she remembered it as well.

"Ring around the Rosies" has been around since the plague. How fun that must have been.

How about the Urban rhyme sung while jumping rope:
"Cinderella, dressed in Yella, Went upstairs to kiss a fella. Made a mistake and kissed a snake, how many doctors (or stitches) did it take?"

My mom didn't remember that one, but she did remember the kissing game and spin the bottle.

Have you ever met the King of Siam and had to chant OWA TANA SIAM, faster and faster; or have you been in the desert with a blanket on you and had to remove something so you wouldn't die of dehydration? Always funny as the clothing came out from under the blanket when common sense should have screamed, "TAKE OFF THE BLANKET, IDIOT!"

My book club talked about how they had a group "Doorbell ditching" last weekend, and dare we mention "Chinese Fire-drills"--a car load of teens did one in front of my car a couple weeks ago--they laughed and ran until the light turned green and piled back in their little Chevy Shove-it and drove off.

Is it as much a relief to you as it is to me that some nuances of childhood remain the same in the fast paced world of today?

One thing that has not stood the test of time is prank phone calls. THANK YOU MR. CALLER ID. So your refrigerator is probably running, but you don't need to catch it. And, you probably don't sell Prince Albert in a can.

I hope to play Hide-n-seek with my grandchildren and swing on the swings and have them say, "We're married Grandma." I hope to watch and listen to them enjoying jump rope and hopscotch rhymes. And... I'll be grateful to have precious little moments free from the distractions and hindrances of technology, because some things are meant to be kept simple.