It's All Fun and Games...

Here is a list of games you can play to help you get through the holidays. You can do this in groups day by day or set up a league to cover the whole holiday. Winner gets a bottle of gin and some Piriton for the kids. 

Laundry Line Challenge - it's summer, right? that means the clothes will go on the line until they are dry. How many days will they stay on the line? two? three? (my personal best is 5 days of solid rain)

Caffeine Carousel - how many cups of coffee can you drink before you shout at the children?

On the Floor - Leave children unattended in a room for 15 minutes. Enter the room and measure how many square inches of carpet you can see. 

Money Pit - plan a free day out with the kids to the park or some such. Now add in surprise parking/transport costs, emergency ice creams, drinks to stave off dehydration, waterproofs/new clothes/gift shop tea towels bought following sudden downpour miles from shelter, toys/magazines bought to shut them up, apps/in game purchases to stop them whingeing on the journey home. How much did your free day actually cost? Highest amount wins. 

Treasure Hunt - Encourage the kids to join you in a thrilling game of 'Where the Fuck are my Keys?' (Bonus points for not swearing in front of the kids.) A lolly and plaudits to the winner, a lolly and commiserations to the loser. Bonus points if the keys are somewhere whimsical like in the freezer.

Endurance - decide to stay home in order to save money; say farewell to all your breakables and encourage the kids to actually play with some of those toys they incessantly nagged you to buy. How long before you break and chuck on Netflix for the rest of the day?

DVD Jenga - Get the kids to request a film then try to pull the film out of the tower of DVDs using only one hand, without knocking the whole lot across the floor. My kids excel at choosing a film that is in the bottom of the pile. Every. Single. Time. 

Craft craziness - Encourage the kids to do craft activities. Time how long it takes to set up the activity. Time how long the kids actually spend doing the activity. Time how long it takes you to clear it all up. If the time spent doing the activity is over 0.005% of the set up/clean up time you win. Drink wine to celebrate. 

Den building - help the kids to build a den out of sofa cushions, then turn on You Tube Kids in the other room with the music on high in order to lure them away. How long can you stay hidden in the den before they find you? Extra points for including an escape hatch so you can make a break for the bedroom when they do eventually come looking.