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Punch Buggy
I recently told my kids about the game "Punch Buggy", where you lightly punch someone's arm and yell "Bug" each time you see a Volkswagen Bug on the road.
As soon as I saw the gleam in my six-year old son’s eyes, I knew that I had made a mistake. I could see him thinking, "Wow, A game that involves cars and punching people? This is amazing." I tried to explain to him that VW Bugs were very rare these days and that you were only supposed to lightly tap the person, but his mind was already working on new ways to torment his sister.
My kids began spending every minute we were in the car searching for VW Bugs and then laughing hysterically as they punched each other. I quickly realized that Volkswagen had released a modern version of the Bug a few years before and that it seemed that every 9th car on the road was now a VW Bug.
The game soon took on a life of its own. My son tried to modify the rules by adding in Honda’s to the game. I quickly nixed the idea, but gave into my daughter’s compromise of including the Nissan Cube . My kids claim that my husband came up with the addendum that each time you see a yellow car that you yell "Banana Squeeze" and squeeze the other person’s arm. I am not actually sure added the twist of tickling each other every time you spot a pizza delivery vehicle.
At first I thought it was fun game and a good way for them to amuse themselves during our many car rides. Then the punches started resulting in tears and the constant shouts of "Bug" and "Cube" started to grate on my nerves. I tried to stop the game. Really I did. However, it quickly became clear that they were so passionate about this game that it was going to take a major effort to end it.
Since I try to pick my battles and it seems that there are so many battles I must pick each day, I came to the conclusion this wasn’t a battle worth picking. I am currently employing the age old technique of ignoring it and hoping that they will get bored of the game soon.
Two weeks later, I’m still holding out hope that my idea will work. But for now, if you see a minivan with two kids slugging each other and yelling "Bug," you can bet it is probably me. And whatever you do, don’t tell your kids how to play the game "Punch Buggy."
Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.
From Trike to Two Wheeler
Jennifer Gregory left Florida almost 11 years ago to escape the heat and enjoys living in a place where the seasons change. She lives in Youngsville, N.C., which she usually refers to as north of Wake Forest, and has been married to her husband for almost 10 years. As the mom of two kids and three dogs, her house is filled with lots of joyful noise and barking. Her daughter (7) is convinced that she will be a princess when she grows up and her son (5) has aspirations of being the next Dale Jr. After years of writing software documentation for various companies, she "retired" when her daughter was born to become a stay at home mom. Now that her kids are in school, she has finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. She spends her mornings as a freelance writer and her afternoons hanging out with her kids. The only things she misses about living in Florida are her friends and family, Publix fried chicken and going to Florida Gator football games.
Comments
I did NOT teach that game to my kids, but I quickly tired of it when they started playing. We altered the rules to make it a little more tolerable. First, there was no punching; we just kept score. And instead of calling out BUG (or Punch Buggy!) we had to call out the color of the car.
Pretty soon, the whole family was playing. We did a lot of driving as a family during the summer of 2005, and so we had to institute new rules. The broken-down bug we passed EVERY time and the bug belonging to a friend at our destination were off limits. You got two points for an old-style beetle. I tried to set a rule that you lost a point if the bug you called turned out to be some other kind of car (we would scan the road far ahead to be the first to call out the color), but the kids wouldn't go for it. Whenever we had other passengers, they were confused by someone suddenly yelling out a color for no apparent reason.
Finally, I called a halt to the game altogether, but I still sometimes find myself just about to call out "Blue!"
LOL, that is very funny. I am glad to know that I am not the only mom who has been tormented by Punch Buggy.
I love the idea of keeping score instead of punching, I think I am going to try that. And that is hilarious that passengers were confused by your game. We have gotten very strange looks in parking lots when they start playing the game.
My kids do the "Punch Buggy" game, but I've asked them to stop punching each other. They also made up a game that whenever they see a yellow car, they yell "Bumblebee" (after the Transformer robot/car), and flick each other. It is less painful than punching.
I tried the variations and the less-painful options, and inevitably, they would pinch or thump or tap harder and harder until someone cried, "foul." I , too, pick the battles, and after six months of Mommy-nice asking, gentle consequences and then having them "forget" and start playing again, I picked this battle. I went into a "THERMONUCLEAR meltdown." That was the last time I heard "punch-" anything. I was, however, close to tears. My kids still talk about how much, "Our mom really can't stand that game, it drives her out of her mind!" I realize it's not smart to go nuclear too often, but this time was worth it.
Changlin - That is funny about Bumblebee for the yellow cars.
KVB - That is really funny about your kids talking about you not being able to stand the game. I'm so glad that I am not the only one who has been driven batty over this game.
Update - We eliminated the punching and replaced it with scoring. But that just brought arguing over who gets the point. Still working on how to resolve that one. I tried just saying that everyone gets the point, but they said that was no fun. Hey - maybe that would work to get them to stop, lol.
Don't necessarily think it's going away soon :-) ... my kids are 17 and 14 (both girls) and learned about this game about 8 years ago ... yes, they still do it ... although they've graduated to just a one finger poke everytime they see one ... or sometimes they just say "poke" .... I'm beginning to think that when they're married and have their own kids they'll still be the ones instigating it :-)
LOL Bahrbelle about your kids doing it when they are grown up. I will go ahead and publicly admit "how" I told my kids about punch buggy. I actaully saw a bug on the road and punched my husband. So I had to explain why I was punching daddy! So I am pretty guilty on this one, lol.