Taboo Game

Last night, we played a family game of Taboo.  Julia and Ethan were a team, as were Madeleine and I.  A few years ago, this wouldn't have been possible, but now that Madeleine can read, we can actually play as a family.  However, Madeleine's abilities at Taboo are not quite up to Julia's.  Julia found a way to a) use relevant life examples to get Ethan to think of the object or person she was describing, and b) find creative ways to avoid the necessary words used to describe what she was talking about.  For instance, when the subject was "microwave," Julia was able to tell Ethan, "Ours is broken because the thing you push to open it fell off."  For "food chain," Julia was able to change tenses and avoid the taboo word "eat" by saying: "So, if something ate a piece of grass, and something else at that thing, and something else ate that thing..."

Madeleine was able to read and comprehend both the word she needed me to get, as well as the taboo words she needed to avoid, but unfortunately, she made her clues a bit TOO ambiguous.

WORD: Umbrella

MADELEINE: So, if...hmm-hmmm-hmmm is...going down, and there's clouds...
ME: Rain?  Thunderstorm?  Snowstorm?  Wind?


WORD: Thermometer

MADELEINE: Um...if...something is making you...BAD...then you...uh...(gesturing towards her mouth)
ME: Throw up?  Cough?  Gag?  Take medicine?  Drink something?


WORD: PICNIC

MADELEINE: So, like, if you GO somewhere, and, like, you use a blanket...
ME:  A sleepover?  A camp-out?  A campfire?  A cookout?


WORD: Pace

MADELEINE: So, like, if you GO...
ME: Uh...
MADELEINE: ...
ME: On a trip?  For a run?
MADELEINE: Uh, yeah...
ME: Uh...
MADELEINE: ...
ME: So running?
MADELEINE: ...


Luckily, I started to get the hang of her frequent use of "so, like, if you GO" beginnings, and began preemptively filling in any possible word that could fit until I hit the jackpot.


WORD: Hike

MADELEINE: So, like, if you GO somewhere...
ME: For a walk?
MADELEINE: ...
ME: For a run?  For a jog?
MADELEINE: ...
ME: For a hike?
MADELEINE: (delighted) YES!!


WORD: Vacation

MADELEINE: So, like, if you GO somewhere...
ME: In a car?
MADELEINE: ...
ME: On a train?
MADELEINE: ...
ME: On vacation?
MADELEINE: (delighted) YES!!


Even more luckily, I am an AWESOME clue-giver, so I was able to get Madeleine guessing 5-6 words on average per round, which made up some ground for us.  Unluckily, Ethan and Julia beat us by one point, but we didn't bother announcing it, because Madeleine had already cried over losing Pictionary to Julia a few hours earlier, and, well, we just didn't need that drama again.  At any rate, I think we'll have to play a few more times before Madeleine gets greater confidence in the various tricky ways to get around her taboo words.

With that said, I'm gonna, like, GO somewhere...