Ups and Downs

[shelley672]

Hi,
I am a student and mum studying a design course with the Open University (which I highly recommend for any mums who can find a small amount of spare time). I am currently developing a board game about being a mum, for my course and I would be really grateful for your thoughts. I need to create a list of good and bad things that happen to mums. These will then be used to create bonus and penalty cards for my game. As a mum to two girls aged three and four I have been able to list quite a few things but would be interested to hear from other mums what their experiences are. What are the things that make you happy in a day? What makes you pull you hair out?! It would be useful for me to know the ages of your children too.
Many thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me.
Shelley

[gillybean2]

You'd be better posting this in chat rather than lone parents wouldn't you? Are you hoping for a smaller number of replies or is it based on line parent mum's?

Are you looking for funny things, or real thing? EG bad day could be dc using potty then emptying contents everywhere, spagetti all over the walls, felt tip pen decorations all over the new sofa. Or it could be SS knocking on the door, finding out your dh is having an affair, being made redundant...

[whiteandnerdy]

I had a power migraine this morning, the old "I'm going to be in my bedroom for the next 2 hours, try not to distrub me unless something's on fire or about to die" :-D

Kind of miss a-go until you throw a 6.

Hmm, any reason why your game has to be sexist? Do we really need board games to pushing a specific gender stereotype? Tongue very lightly in my cheek as I write that.

[shelley672]

Thanks for the advice. I have posted in various different areas of this site as I am keen not to stereotype. I wanted to ask a variety of different mums. My game has to be based on a role I play in society and being a mum is my main role (and possibly my only role in society). I guess I could have based it on being a parent, I wonder how much that would change the dynamics of things. Is parenting very different for Dads? That opens up a whole new can of worms, especially on this area of the site!

Yes the penalty and reward cards will be a mix of serious things and comical things which happen to Mums. 'Your child has just pooed in the public pool; back 3 spaces' (this has just happened to my friend!)

Thanks again for your help.

[angrywoman]

negatives:
your washing is out and it starts to rain
you have run out of milk/ bread
child off sick, you can't go to work

positives:
Your childs teacher says she is a delight to teach and got 100/100 in a maths test
you have a lovely day out at the beach with no arguments/ incidents
your child learns to swim/ ride a bike without stabilisers
big hugs! (not from creepy creatures with t.v.s in tummys)