Hi Ho Cherry-O and other Hits I remember

On the porch with Maylee

We eat ice cream cones just about every evening on the porch after dinner.    

Here I am in Houston 10 days now and I am enjoying the grandkids and the exhausting cycle of a preschooler's day.  Hi Ho Cherry-O is a hit with Emma Kate, but Maylee just likes to mix up the fruit into the baskets.  I remember my Hi Ho Cherry-O had wooden cherries that were much bigger than these tiny plastic pieces of fruit.  Things just aren't what they used to be.......
 Other fun stuff I introduced to the girls: "Mother May I?" and Slap Jack.  I remember liking both of those, but not so much now.  Slap Jack is ......just so....boring.  But Emma Kate gets such a kick out of it, it is hard to say no when she wants to play the millionth time. And I totally forgot that you are completely at the whim of the "Mother" in MMI.  It is she and she alone who determines if you are a winner or a loser.  Emma Kate caught on to that pretty quickly.  

I have noticed that the family dynamic has changed since I was a parent of small kids.  Here is what I see:
1. not as much TV around here as I exposed my kids to--we watched "Today's Special", "Bozo the Clown", "The Electric Company", "Sesame Street", "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" and anything else I thought was worth viewing.  Hmmmmm......maybe I overdid it on the TV watching???
2. Almost everybody is "plugged in" to the computer or iphone at one time or another for very long periods of time.  Sometimes at night I stare at FB or google something random, because everyone else is googling, reading, working, or watching a movie on the computer.  So what I see is the internet is taking the place of TV BIG TIME.  at this house anyway.  Even the 2 year old and the 4 year old enjoy the family videos and games that the iphone or computer offer.  
This is by no means a criticism.  Just an observation.   
One thing, however, seems to have remained constant:
The kids rule.
So, some things never change.