We had the pleasure of having our grandsons overnight recently. We enjoy just watching (all our grandkids) explore the property, find things to mess with, get filthy, experience the occasional minor scrape or splinter, tussle a little with each other, poke a stick in a hole, etc. just exactly what kids need to be doing.
We started out our morning with freshly made warm play dough, and during our play the boys discovered the Fun Factory toys (thankfully I had two of them):
K decided these were most definitely ghost traps, and the cookie oven was clearly the containment unit. The boys transformed instantaneously into the Ghostbusters. Armed with these devices and donning their backpacks--now proton packs, out the door they went on little boy adventures of the finest kind!
At the last minute I remembered I had a set of walkie-talkies, and gave H a quick hands-on training. It does take a little coordination. He caught on to the push-to-talk part easily, but the release-to-listen part was a bit trickier much to his big bro's frustration. They seemed to work it out fairly quickly, however.
Bonus equipment was a small, palm sized FM radio with an antenna that I found at Walgreen's and put with my collection of toys. K was fascinated by it, and not only enjoyed playing music from various stations, but the antenna was unmistakably a built in PKE meter!
We designated our little storage shed into the fire station at K's insistence. OBVIOUSLY one needs a place for the containment unit to be secured. If you're going to spend time and resources catching ghosts you can't just have them contained without security and supervision. They are known for their elusiveness and sneaky escapes after all!
Towards the afternoon, I was given a walkie-talkie and told I was now "Janine" and would be dispatching the calls to the Ghostbusters team.
I took my job VERY seriously, not wanting to let Slimer get away with his naughtiness such as spewing ectoplasm on some unsuspecting soul. I've never come across ectoplasm but I'm guessing it's fairly repugnant. There is also the concern of having someone be possessed, haunted or severely spooked by other apparitions on the loose. In the last instance, we would have to deploy the Team with wet wipes and undergarment replacements at minimum. This is important work, people!
I spent a good part of the afternoon radioing in locations and suspected sightings and watched the two heroes trek over hill and gravel pile to bring back the offending specters.
Late in the day, I radioed to the Ghostbusters who were now holed up in the fire station with a bag of chips for sustenance. It was an urgent call from an elderly lady at 4th and Main with something unholy in her basement. However, the response back was, "We're taking a break. You'll have to send the B Team." Reluctantly, I alerted the B Team and hoped for the best!
It seemed the hours and hours of Ghostbusting was winding up. And to be honest, trying to talk in a nasally New York accent was wearing on me as well. I did a quick scan of my "successful grandkid playday checklist" and saw that these crucial items were met in abundance:
- Memories made
- Immunity boosted through dirt exposure
- Imagination stimulated
- Creative play mode engaged
- Physical exhaustion achieved
with bonus points for:
- Sibling play without fighting
Plus all the ghosts? Completely BUSTED!
