Marbles
After several days of deadline pressure, I returned to Ricochet this evening intending to write a post. What did I discover? That everything I wanted to say had already been said. (Troy Senik: Mitt Romney still strikes a lot of conservatives as "someone who sees this as a game to be won, rather than a cause to be advanced." If there were a Pulitzer Prize for individual sentences, Troy would just have clinched it.)
Instead of opining, then, may I simply offer a word on behalf of fatherhood? My youngest daughter, who turned 10 just yesterday, dragged me away from my work just now to force me onto my knees for a game of marbles. Just marbles. Thirteen mibs inside a string circle, the blue shooter for her, the orange shooter for me. When I missed an easy shot by about two feet, she erupted into such pure, unforced peals of laughter, collapsing onto her side and rolling on the carpet, that I decided right then that I had never experienced a more completely delightful moment. Then, the game tied at six apiece, I missed again, leaving her to make a long, tricky shot--and knock the last mib out of the circle, winning. Oh, the look on her face! Surprise and joy--sheer joy. For an instant, the very universe had to a ten-year old in pajamas.
"Dad," she said, laughing once again after saying her prayers, "I still don't see how you could have missed that one shot."
Until tomorrow, Ricochet.
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Re: Marbles
iWc:
Kids give me unspeakable pleasure. I wallow in it, like some big hippo in a massive mud bath. When I want to feel sad, I imagine them all out of the house... · 23 minutes ago
My parents delighted in their children, too. Things were strict, but we're all incredibly close. My parents were so close with each other that it actually surprised me that they were a bit sad when we all left. But then we just began repaying them for their kindness through the gift of grandchildren.
Oct '10
Re: Marbles
Peter,
As I read your post feelings of nostalgia and melancholy welled over me. My baby, one of four children, will be twenty-one next month.
Then a happy thought came to me.
Grandchildren!
Aug '11
Re: Marbles
Lovely, Peter.
My wife and I didn't meet until I was halfway through my 30s. Now, as I start the back half of my 40s, I still have a six and eight-year-old in the house, while many of my friends are in the process of readying their kids for college.
I look at these people, and I think "They look so old!" which I suspect is largely an illusion and a mirror that shows me only what I want to see. But I know that my kids keep me young.
I'm certain I was on the path to becoming a bitter and cynical old man. My wife, and then later my children, saved my life.
Mar '11
Re: Marbles
I'll now speak a word on behalf of grandfatherhood. I was pressed into service to watch my 3 year old grandson yesterday. We had breakfast, gathered eggs from the chicken house, checked the beehives and took Nick the 3-Legged Dog for a walk. I had to delicately answer his question of where the steers (which we called "the Boys") had gone and a million other questions only a 3 year old can think of. It will go down as probably one of the best days of 2012. The old saying is right, grandchildren are God's gift for not having murdered your children.
Edited on February 2, 2012 at 4:26pmSep '10
Re: Marbles
My mother had the following saying on our refrigerator: Avenge yourself: live long enough to be a problem to your children. She's 93 and kickin'!
Illiniguy: ... The old saying is right, grandchildren are God's gift for not having murdered your children. · 18 minutes ago
Edited 16 minutes ago
Aug '10
Re: Marbles
I was never clear on the rules for playing marbles when I was a kid.
The rules seemed to change at will on my school's playground.
The winner was the kid with the most influence to enforce his/her vision of the rules at any given time.
(Insert comment about government here.)
Re: Marbles
Marbles were out of fashion in the 1970s but I played them rabidly anyway. Nixon was also out of fashion, but I made my mom vote for him anyway. Great story Peter.
Jun '10
Re: Marbles
When I grew up in a rural town in the fifties, playing marbles was huge. We played in the dirt, and I actually wore holes in the knees of a pair of jeans in less than a week.
It was a great lesson in meritocracy. In my town, there was a freckled, red-headed kid named Johnny Jones (think of the freckled kid in Sandlot). To the best of my knowledge, Johnny had no other athletic skills, but he was a marble-playing phenom. At the end of a couple of hours, he would always win my marbles.
He still lives in my home town. I've seriously considered raiding his garage, because I have a strong feeling it's filled with coffee cans filled with my marbles.
Aug '11
Re: Marbles
Saw this comic yesterday. Knocked me over.
Dec '10
Re: Marbles
Lovely story, Peter. Started my day off right.
Here's a story related only by the marbles.
Mar '11
Re: Marbles
Leslie Watkins: My mother had the following saying on our refrigerator: Avenge yourself: live long enough to be a problem to your children. She's 93 and kickin'!
2 hours ago
May she continue to torment you for years to come.
Dec '10
Re: Marbles
Leslie Watkins: Conversation overheard when my little girl (Bug) was almost four and was walking back to the car with her bestest friend ever (Sara) just a few feet ahead of me:
Sara: That was fun.
Bug: Yeah.
Sara: Leslah's the silliest grownup ever.
The most excellent compliment I've ever got. · 6 hours ago
The sweetest story teller too.
Thanks Leslie,
Jim
May '10
Re: Marbles
So that's how you play marbles! I was a jacks girl, myself. Played it for hours on end. Had a big tournament on my birthday, right after the piñata.
Little kids are so much fun to watch and interact with. I'm constantly marveling at the creativity coming out of my boys. My 2nd (8) was in a phase where he was determined to be a rock star. As we were driving to church, he piped up from the back of the minivan, "I know what my rockstar name will be! I'll be Tony Crack." After the laughter subsided he amended, "No, never mind. That's not it."
Jan '11
Re: Marbles
If you think your having fun now Peter just wait 'til you are a Grandfather or in my case a Boppa with 5 Grandaughters under 7. Now thats fun.