Friday 5 July 2013

Chicken Pox 1 - Skylanders 0



When Oldest Boy turned 7 he received lots of Lego as presents. 

Lots of Lego sets. 

Inspired gifts for a boy who likes Lego but my heart kind of sank a little bit.  I knew I would be the one making the boatmobile for SpongeBob Squarepants and assembling his pineapple home. 

Star Wars would also need their Galaxy putting together.

I was always a book person.  No fiddly pieces of Lego in books, just a nice straightforward storyline to get lost in.

We spent 5 days making his Lego presents.  (Five days!!!) and now they are feked into a wicker basket on the floor of his bedroom.  Hundreds of tiny little Lego men heads and arms.  Bits of lights and wheels.  Pieces of palm trees. 

No good to anyone.

Then Skylanders made an appearance.  Skylanders or Skylanders Giants to give them their correct title, have been knocking around our house for some time now but I still had to Google what they actually are.

I got so many results it just confused me all the more and I quit.  I still don’t know what Skylanders Giants are.

What I do know is you can buy packs of trading cards for €1.20 and each weekend the boys drive me crazy looking for them.

They must be hugely popular because sometimes a couple of weeks can pass and there are none to be found anywhere. 

Once I snatched up the last 8 packs in a box in the supermarket.  Sorry.  But I’d be lynched.

Gradually these trading cards began to take over and I thought it was a good idea to get the trading cards album for the boys, in which to store their colourful bits of cardboard.

The scarcity of the trading cards should have been the first clue.  I couldn’t get the albums anywhere and ended up purchasing them on line.

They arrived in timely fashion on the first Monday of their holidays.  I was delighted because I was sure this would put a stop to all their petty squabbling and fighting.

I spent over an hour with Oldest Boy reading through one hundred and seventy odd names such as Stealth Elf, Ghost Roaster and Prism Break until he had put his cards in order.

Then we had to place each card in its tiny plastic pocket in a 24 page album.

And read over the names again to make sure we didn’t leave any out.

I was painfully, hugely aware of Shy Boy waiting patiently in the wings for the same assistance.

To repeat something amusing I heard the other day, “holy crap on a cracker!”

It was torture. 

I almost went ballistic that same afternoon when I discovered Oldest Boy sitting on the floor surrounded by eleventeen million trading cards which he had removed from his album in order to do it right this time!

During all of this, lying on the couch was poor Lovely Liam, absolutely pickled with chicken pox.  They were on his head, in his ears, on the sides of his fingers.  Down his trousers and he even had one on the corner of his eye.

He was hot and bothered.  Uncomfortable, itchy and tired.  But a great little patient.  All he wanted was to know if nana’s Sunday roast chicken dinner was to blame for giving him the pox and when would they go.  He requested copious amounts of water to drink but that was easy.  

I would take a cotton bud dipped in chicken pox lotion and dab it on each individual pox, even if it took me all night, if I didn’t have to see another Skylanders card again.

Chicken pox you win this round.  Skylanders – epic fail!!!


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