Favorite Uncle

My older brother R wanted to be around when I visited him and our parents with my 6 year old daughter E and 4 year old son C. He had been gruelingly taking care of our parents for the last 1.5 years while having to live with them. Usually I give him a break so he can leave town for a bit, but he wanted to stick around to see his niece and nephew.

My kids are always super excited to see their Uncle R. He is so attentive with them and truly loves playing with them - and they know that. This time, I was set on making it extra memorable by buying a few random games to add a new dimension to the time we spent together. There was a throwing game with sticky balls to rank up a high score, a Lego monkey game that honestly was way to complex even for me to understand, some magnet tiles, and an acting game called Sloth in a Hurry.

We cycled between playing games and my kids horsing around with Uncle R. It was physically taxing because my kids would ask him to pick them up on his shoulders to walk around. They also made him push them around on chairs or drag them around on the floor. It’s basically a free gym membership for my brother!

The games were also a hit (except for the Lego monkey game where we just ended up building arches). The kids had fun throwing the balls onto the target and played a bit with the magnet tiles. The most fun was playing Sloth in a Hurry. I simplified the game a lot by just having everyone pick up a Who card and a What card. Those cards had us acting out different characters doing things and it was so hilarious the first time that we played that game almost every night.

My dad was even finally awake during some nights enough to watch us play. He had a good time seeing his silly grandkids act things out. I’ll never forget C acting for the first time and trying to show us a jellyfish juggling. He was putting a point on his head to swim around and waving his arms in a semi circle in a crazy way! It was hilarious! Eventually, we knew all the cards and the game was still fun, but became more about guessing quickly and acting silly. E and C also insisted on participating on each acting scene with whoever they were paired up with. It became a co-star event every time up for me and my brother. Just a really silly and fun way to spend time together and I’m glad that game was such a hit!

The trip also had a few bumps (and tantrums) along the way, but overall, it was really enjoyable. We went out to eat most nights also and my kids got to enjoy some really good food along with my brother. He knows a lot of great spots! Most importantly, my brother had a great time with E and C. He is by far their favorite uncle because he knows how to play along with them for hours at a time.

Even when he gets only a little amount of sleep, he somehow finds the energy to play with them (and something that I admire and need to learn from!). We stayed up extra late on the last night to hang for a bit longer and the kids gave him one last big hug for the end of the trip. I’m glad everyone mostly had a great time and will remember this trip for a long time. Hopefully my kids do too (childhood amnesia and all)!