Lynns & Tots

Taco soup has become one of the favorite family meals, and works best with corn bread (at least that’s my opinion, though tortilla chips work nice, too). The last time we had it for dinner, the girls began a little debate about the finer points of eating meat. I guess I really shouldn’t call it a debate as the argument was pretty one sided. None of them are looking to be fledgling members of PETA just yet. They love taco soup too much to change it up by replacing the beef with beans or, heaven forbid, tofu. The funny part of the debate, though, was Irelynn’s take. I don’t think she’s quite getting the idea that there are people who don’t eat meat. So her mind translated a certain word a whole different way. It’s probably best if I just write out the conversation the girls had. I think you’ll get the idea.

“You know, daddy,” Katy said as she took another bite of her sour-cream/taco soup, “I don’t think I could be a vegetarian. I like meat too much.”

Maddy nodded through her bite of soup, then said, “Me either. I couldn’t be a vegetarian.”

Irelynn raised one of her eyebrows and chuckled a bit to herself. “You guys are crazy. I could be veterinarian,” she said as she took another bite of the taco soup.

Daireth and I laughed, then Daireth tried to correct her saying, “Sweety, Maddy said vegetarian, not…” but Irelynn interrupted her (as often happens when a six year old is certain they know what they are talking about), and gave her that look kids have that can only be described as ”duh”.

“I can too be a veterinarian,” Irelynn said with a mouthful of taco soup, “I love animals.”

Punch Buggy (aka slug bug) was nearly banned in our family. The parental ruling came down on the side of rules modification, however, saving this game from the dungeon of car games that cannot be played. To understand where the needed rule change came from, one must understand how convoluted the rules had become (and all the sibling-rivalry induced fights that ensued while playing a simple car game).

The way they used to do it:

1. Can only be played in a car. Cannot be played while taking a stroll through the neighborhood. So far, so good. Its fair and it makes sense.
2. When a VW Bug is spotted, the first player to shout out ”Slug Bug!”  (hereafter referred to as “slug”) can claim the prize and victory. No one is actually punched. Calling out the slug is enough.
3. The person shouting out the slug must then specify every person in the car that has been slugged lest they fall victim to a slug thief (see rule 4).
4. If, however, another person in the car slugs the original slugger before the original slugger has the oppurtunity to specify the second slugger, the second slugger then successfully steals the slug and claims victory over the original slugger.
5. Any person slugged in the car can slug anyone else who has not slugged them.
6. The slugger must also call out the correct color of the VW bug in question (see the special Maddy rules for some minor variation to this rule).
7. The optional “no slug bug back” must follow every slug, or the slugger leaves themselve open for slug theft.
8. Once the slugger has claimed victory, and if they have successfully named and included the optional no slug back option, the slugger then owns exclusive slug rights on any other VW bug of that color spotted in the same trip or day (whichever lasts longer).

These were the rules the girls played by. These are typical rules for this game - minus the exclusion of actually punching somebody. That was an early change neccessitated by the fact that the girls usually couldn’t reach the front seat and simply being able to call out the slug increased their chances of victory (and lowered the possibility that they would actually beat the snot out of each other). It also increased the safety level in the car (it’s kind of hard to drive while trying to puch somebody in the backseat…not really punch, per se, more like a love tap).

However, those weren’t the only rules. There were some minor variations made to the rules, particularly by Maddy, that increased slug theft, and most likely stretched the limits of fairness. It’s important to note that I call them the Maddy rules simply because she was most inventive in creating them, but once created, they were immediately embraced by her sisters.

The Maddy Rules:

1. The color of the VW bug spotted must be shade specific. For example, if the bug is light blue, then light blue must be called. Simply calling out your slug as “blue slug bug” won’t do. You’re leaving yourself open to slug theft. Exclusive rights only apply to other bugs of the same shade.
2. If the bug has a convertable top, this must be specified as either “slug bug convertable” or as a combination of the color of the convertable top and the color of the car, for example “slug bug black and dark blue”.
3. If the bug is an older model bug, this must be specified as well. This rule is not applied to newer models.
4. Both colors of a two toned bug must be called.
5. The crybaby rule. A slug is only valid if both players are actually participating in the game. If the victim of a slug can wine loud enough and convince everyone else that they weren’t actually playing, the slugger loses exclusive rights to the slug as the slug was delivered out of game.

As fair as these rules may sound, they caused many arguments and more than a few tears. Often times, Maddy would sound like an auctioneer when she would fire off her slugs in rapid succession, ensuring victory and total dominance, and she would quickly be followed by Irelynn who would slug everyone, save Maddy. More than a few times Maddy would wine that she wasn’t actually playing if she lost a slug. Even Katy would use the crybaby rule to avoid defeat. It had to be stopped. After a quick parental meeting, Punch Buggy survived, but with a few rule modifications.

The new, unofficial Klein family rules:

1. Can only be played in the car. (The only rule we kept was the only one that made a lot of sense).
2. When a VW bug is spotted the first person to call out the slug, including the color (non-shade specific, mind you) and punches the roof of the car wins.
3. The winner does not gain exclusive rights of that color bug for the remainder of the trip (or day). They simply win that round.
4. None of the Maddy rules apply. 
5. There’s no crying in Punch Buggy.