Teenage Boys Have An Unfair Advantage

Due to the age range of my kids, my days require a variety of communication skills. Explaining something to Zoe takes a lot of patience, a little reverse-psychology, a smidgen of bribery, and occasionally a threat or two. Getting the boys to listen, or getting information from them, requires short, concise sentences, and adjectives are considered frivolous and unnecessary.

Taking into account the boys' preference to communicate through arm gestures and grunts, you would think that they would kick ass at charades. We found out a couple weeks ago that this is not the case. Zach tried to act out his phrase and all he did was stand there, his head cocked to one side, his jaw askew, and a distant look on his face. I have to be honest and say that I've seen him with that same expression when we're not playing charades, so I refrained from yelling out guesses like "trying to put laundry away" or "listening to your mother." Hard to believe the word he was trying to pantomime was "dummy."

While picking up the last of the Christmas gifts, I was wandering by the board games, seeing if there was anything that might appeal to a teenage boy that is too old for "Sorry," too impatient for "Risk," and too young for "Dirty Minds." I picked up a game I had never seen before and read the back:

"Cro Magnon Board Game by University Games challenges you to adopt the eccentric habits of your tribe and evolve or not through the ages. Rediscover your prehistoric communication skills miming, clay modeling, primitive speaking and charcoal sketching to help the members of your tribe guess words and move ahead in this fantastic adventure. Give in to your primal instincts and let them lead you to victory. Only the caveperson who evolves happily to the stage of homo sapiens will win the game."

Oh, and it also comes with a "primitive language sheet." Maybe now I'll finally be able to decipher all those grunting sounds.