Reu-sticks

Maybe you've heard of Poohsticks, a simple game Winnie the Pooh invented by dropping sticks over a bridge.

And to impress your friends with your random knowledge you need to know that there is a World Pooh Sticks Championship on the River Thames each year.

  

Anyway, Reuben invented his own stick game tonight.  Let's call it Reu-sticks.

First, gather all the sticks you can hold.

 Then, sort them on the sidewalk.

Now, throw them up in a big tree.

I watched Reuben do this for a while, then he chose a stick and gave it to me. 

"You try Mom."

So I tossed it up into the tree and watched it fall back down.

"That's okay.  Try it again," he tells me, as if I didn't succeed at something.

"Am I supposed to get it stuck in the tree?"

"No."

Hmm.


A while later Reuben brings Paul a stick and strongly urges him to play.  Right away Paul asks,

"Am I trying to knock down more sticks?"

"Yes."


Oh.  I get it now.  I didn't instinctively know how to play this game like the boys.


If you ever babysit my boys, give Reuben a stick and Peter a book and they'll go off to their own worlds, and you can peruse that magazine that's been waiting for you, or wash your windows, or vacuum out your car.  Whatever.  You will feel uber productive as you multitask with ease.