Although Melody spent a great deal of time with Steve
Evens, she also spent an even greater deal with her girlfriends during breaks at
school. And one of the things she liked to do, other than play tetherball, was
play jump rope. She was pretty good at jumping rope all by herself – probably
because it was one of things that people said she couldn’t do (aka the magic
words).
But,
it was more fun, indeed, to play up rope with her friends, especially as they
graduated from a simple back and forth with the rope, as we sang “Bluebells,
cockle shells, easy ivy overs” and then they began swinging the rope over the
jumper’s head. The rope turners would then star going faster and faster,
counting. If one of the jumpers made it to 50 without tripping, she would then
exit without having to turn the rope.
Melody’s
favorite, though, was double Dutch. That was tricky, and it took her a little
while to gain enough speed and confidence to give it a try. Melody’s biggest
problem was that she had way too much energy, and she could actually go an
entire break without stopping.
And
then, Chinese jump rope made it to Bay View Elementary School. Melody and her
friends took advantage of her father’s newspaper delivery job and used the
rubber bands to make huge chains that they could do all the intricate footwork
involved in Chinese jump rope. It was easy to get tangled up in those double
rows.
Another
game that she enjoyed was playing jacks. She was very good at jacks and rarely
had to start over from the beginning. Even when they got to the last stage,
when they had to gather up all ten jacks AND the ball BEFORE the ball could hit the ground. This was one game where being a tomboy
stood her in good stead, because she used the same skills she used for playing
marbles (she won all the puries in the neighborhood games.)
Did
you have any favorite games that you played as a child?
Copyright © April 12, 2016 by Mary Purpari. All Rights Reserved.
