Perhaps this was something that only went on in my neighbourhood, but when you were little and you were getting ready to play a game of tag or hide-and-seek, did you decide who was going to be "it" with a little game called "potatoes?"
Potatoes was basically when all the players would get in a circle and you'd put your hands together, locking your fingers, and put them in the middle. This was your potato. Then the caller would go around the circle tapping everyone's potato to the beat of a rhyme. If you got tapped, then your potato split up into two smaller potatoes, which was basically two fists. The rhyme would continue until everyone's little potatoes were tapped out and the last person left with a potato was "it." Most of the rhymes asked a question, and whomever got tagged could answer the question, and the second half of the rhyme would continue based on his or her answer.
I was running around the track the other day, and for some reason, all the little rhymes started going through my head. I started laughing so hard at how funny they were. Like I said, I don't know if anyone else every engaged in potatoes, but if you did, I'd love to hear what rhymes you used. Here are a few we used in Morganfield, KY circa 1982.
Eeney, meaney, miney, mo.
Catch a tiger by his toe.
If he hollers, let him go.
Eeney, meaney, miney, mo.
My Momma told me to pick the best one,
And you are not IT!
Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish.
How many pieces do you wish?
(5)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
And you are not IT!
Grandma Moses
Sittin' in her rockin' chair
Chewin' on her underwear.
What colour were they?
(Purple!)
P-U-R-P-L-E
And you are not IT!
Engine, engine, number nine
Going down the Chicago Line.
If the train should bump the track,
Do you want your money back?
(YES!)
Y-E-S
And you are not IT!
My Momma and your Momma were hanging out clothes.
My Momma socked your Momma right in the nose.
What colour was the blood except red?
(Green!)
G-R-E-E-N
And you are not IT!
With the weather getting warmer and the days getting longer, it makes me want to get a bunch of people together for a big game of hide-and-seek and remember what it was like as a child to be so fun-loving and care-free during the summer. Those have to be some of the greatest memories ever.
2 comments:
The only one I remember is the "catch a tiger by his toe" one, but we never used it because there's no variable with it - if you always have the same number of people you can always tell who's going to be odd man out...
Used all of them, except the gradma eating underwear. Varried the Eenie meeni minie moe one on occasion with "Catch the tiger by the tail" and "My mother told me to pick the very best one and Y-O-U spells you."
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