In an attempt to get the kids to do something besides play video games, watch TV and drive me over the edge now that arctic-type temps have taken over and apparently outdoor play is not nearly as appealing, we have come up with a new game.

My attempts at "Why don't you go draw something, paint something, write something" have been met with sighing and eye-rolling. Because moms are dumb, slow creatures who know nothing of the real world of kids. We were, of course, born old, never experiencing the glee of knowing everything and ever-so-much more than all adults.

So I started the prompt box this morning. I cut billions and billions of scraps of paper (ok, maybe 75-100, but it really felt like billions) and folded the colored little strips in half. On each piece I wrote one word. I put them in a little box with a lid that we shake, shake, shake. The monsters boys then choose three glorious and brilliant words from the box. They look them over carefully deciding in a poker-like manner if they would like to trade one in, knowing that they will be stuck with the new choice.

From there it is just like mad-libs with crayons or paints or Microsoft Word. The idea is to use the words to create something. If they want to make it more interesting they may add more ideas to the list but they must use what they draw.

They are having lots of fun creating and almost as much fun thinking of words to add to the box. I am enjoying a few bicker free hours.

Just a few of the words so far: