Clean-Up Day or Musical Garbage
by Carol Hausch Ossenfort
 |
| playrific.com |
Remember one of the games
you played at birthday parties as a child?
(No, Spin the Bottle came later).
I’m talking about Musical Chairs.
You know, a chair for each participating child was lined up with one
facing frontward and the next backward, and so on, with one less chair than
children playing. The music started, and
everyone marched around and around the chairs, faster and faster...until the
music stopped. Then with squeals of
anxiety, everyone scrambled for the nearest chair, and the one left standing
was out of the game. Another chair was
removed, and the music began again...the game continuing until the child who
triumphantly leaped onto the last chair was proclaimed the winner and received
his or her prize.
 |
| imgarcade.com |
Well, we had a slightly
different version of the game going on in our family called, “Musical
Garbage.” This involved cleaning out
various rooms in the house, and the “garbage” was moved from one room to the
other, while the household “players” ran in circles trying to find appropriate
places for the uprooted stuff. Sounds
like fun, doesn’t it? I’ll bet you’ve
played your own version of this as well.
In case you haven’t, the rules of the game follow. (Please bear in mind that they are never
clearly understood by any sane person, particularly not a parent.) So don’t give up right away - give it a
whirl!
1.
There are usually one or two players (most
often Mom and Dad), but should be played by everyone in the household...you
know that old adage which says, “Many hands make light work.” A bonus may have to be paid to those children
in the family who do participate, otherwise known as a “bribe.”
2. It
may be played during any day of the week, month, season, or year, but is most
often played prior to a major holiday, or the expected arrival of guests for
dinner (birthday, christening, shower, or add your own occasion).
3. Players
are penalized, if the game is played the day after the neighborhood garbage/junk collection day, by being forced
to think of a new place to move the entire pile of junk to until the next scheduled day.
This would be a major setback in the game, and should be avoided at all
costs!
4. A
bonus point (sometimes two) must be paid to the garbage men on collection day
so that all the items sitting at the edge of the curb are taken, especially the
boxes that fall apart as soon as they’re picked up, the residue of which has to
be “shoveled” into the garbage truck--this assuredly necessitates the
above-mentioned bonus points!
Moves:
Player Number One (usually
Mom) begins by sorting out the junk from the “good stuff” in Room Number One,
while the second player starts in the basement.
PNO then throws the junk
into a pile on the floor, leaves to answer the phone and, returning an hour
later, finds that the dog who got caught up in the spirit of the game, has
scattered the pile about the room. This
sends her back to “home base.” (The dog
wins the bonus point -- a stray M&M from the pile on the floor.)
Meanwhile, down in the
basement, the second player (PNT) (usually Dad), begins by carrying up to the
yard a number of boxes that PNO
wants left in the basement, and a confrontation begins. It usually also starts to rain on the
boxes! PNO
and PNT are now in a deadlock position, and the game is on temporary hold with
the refuse in Room Number One (RNO) still lying about the floor except for one
important document, not meant to be discarded, which the dog has just
eaten along with the M&M!
At this point, a third and
fourth player (kids) often have to be coaxed into the game to give aid. PNO
asks PNTH (number three) to pick up the mess in RNO, throw it all into a box
and deposit it on the porch, which now becomes Room Number Three (RNTH). While PNTH is “on the way,” he or she is then
often asked by PNT (remember Dad?) to pick up the hammer he left on the porch
and bring it to him. PNTH does so, and
is rewarded by a trip to the store for a bottle of soda for himself and PNT. PNO
gets a headache.
Midway through the game,
an acquaintance stops by with a trunk full of clothes for your church’s used clothing drive, which she has just weeded out of
her closets, and deposits on your
porch. Bonus points to the acquaintance;
a penalty for you.
PNO
finally returns from the store with the soda and a friend, declaring him/her a
partner (PNF). They both leave for
another part of the house, each carrying a box that PNO
has decided should be stashed in the attic.
The space in the attic, of course, is nil, and therefore the boxes must
be returned to, yes, home base where they will sit on the floor in the corner
for another month or so.
When all possible moves
have been made throughout the house (this may take a while, so don’t start the
game when you have only minutes to play), and an equal amount of stuff has been
moved from RNO to RNT and
vice-versa, the game is declared a tie and held over for another day.
The winner of this game is
the person who can walk away with all of his or her marbles, still remember his
or her name, and not care that it seems as if there is now more junk in each
room than before they started, while the curb outside is full of the largest
pile of refuse ever seen in the neighborhood!
(Please note that the winner is never PNO.)
Having read and understood
(?) the basic rules, you must realize a few other pertinent facts. Nothing is ever accomplished in this game,
and it is not one to be played by those who are “feint of heart”--or if you
live by the rule that there is a place for everything, and everything must be
in its place.”
Understand, also, that
after having played this game countless times during the year, you will tire of
it as we do all of life’s pass-times.
Having admitted this, the game needs to be put away for a while so that
life’s other enriching activities may be pursued – there’s a wealth of
entertainment, knowledge, and fulfillment out there, and once you accept the fact
that your home won’t be on the pages of “House Beautiful,” you’ll be a lot
happier.
 |
| clipart.me |
And
now, let the music begin!
Thank You, Heavenly
Father, that we are so blessed with abundance in our lives, and that we have so
much more than we will ever need. Help
us to use our resources and assets more wisely, help us to appreciate what we
have rather than to look for better, newer, bigger items that we probably don’t
need, and remind us often of those who have so little who need our help. Let us also remember to give of the “first
fruits” to your work, rather than to give the leftovers! Truly, it is by giving and sharing that we
grow and prosper. Amen.
