Drops of Awesome

Personal Blog of Author Kathryn Thompson

Your Opinion Matters to Us

by

Okay y’all. I need your help. Well “need” is a funny word. I would like your help greatly.

1. I’m likely starting a new feature on Parenting.com each week where I will highlight great posts from blogs written by parents. I know I’m not aware of all the great blogs by moms and dads out there on the internet so I’d love some suggestions. Which blogs big and small should I be reading to find the most entertaining, insightful writing in the blogosphere? (It could even be yours.) Just leave a comment with the URL.

2. What are your favorite get-to-know you party mixer games? I’m hosting this party with a bunch of women who’ve never met before and I’d like to break the ice in some way other than yammering on and on about my kids’ dental health. I mean, a good kiddie toothpaste anecdote is always a big hit but I’d like to step outside my box for one night. Hit me with your best ideas.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy R. says

    “Because I Said So” is a funny blog written by a mom of 6. You may have heard of her now-infamous Ebay listing where she talked about taking 6 children to the grocery store. http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

    As far as party games, I have a Christmas cookie exchange every year and last year we played a fun “left-right” game. You wrap up a couple of little prizes and all sit in a circle. Give each prize to somebody, then read a story like the one under “Right Left Christmas Gift (Ornament) Exchange” on this site: http://www.robinsweb.com/cookies/games.html
    It is a story with the words “left” and “right” repeated frequently. Each time the guests hear the words, they have to pass the prize in that direction. Whoever has the prize at the end of the story gets to keep it. It is not a getting-to-know-you game persay, but it gets people laughing. Have fun!

  2. Kerry says

    We just had a gathering and played Apples to Apples. What a hoot! It took up the whole evening, but we call got to know one another fairly well and it was SO MUCH FUN!

  6. lifeasamama says

    i have too many favorite mommy bloggers to count, but i second the vote for apples to apples. another great game is “two truths and a lie,” where everyone says two true things about themselves as well as one made up one, and everyone has to guess which is fake.

    for example:

    1. I lived in Austria for a while.
    2. I am double-jointed in my knees and can walk like a bird.
    3. I won an award for being the best needlepointer at the state Latin convention.

    (#2 is fake.)

  7. Kirsten says

    I have a blog…not sure if people think its funny or not…i’m just getting started with it

    a game we have played is where you pass around a bowl full of M&M’s and tell the women to take as many as they way…they atleast have to take 5, but dont tell them what its for. After everyone has their M&M’s, you tell them they each have to stand up and tell one thing about themselves for each M&M they have…thats the best I can do

  8. Liz says

    party mixer game … have the ladies pair off, one is blindfolded and has to put on a pair of socks on the other lady without looking.

    very fun.

  10. Checkers says

    My favorite blog to read is http://www.hollywoodflakes.blogspot.com. Absolutely hilarious! (Check out the Sugar Monster post. My hubby and I were on the floor laughing!)

    We played a really fun game with a beach ball. You blow up the ball and with permanent marker write a bunch of getting to know you questions on it. Then you have to throw the ball around and when you catch it, you have to answer the question your right pointer finger was touching. I wish I could remember the questions, they were unique and fun. If I think of any, I’ll report back. 🙂

  14. Suzi says

    Two truths and a lie is fun.

    Also ask the ladies to bring one thing that is special to them and have everyone talk about the things.

  15. Annie says

    Truth be told, I basically hate most get-to-know-you games. Makes me sound like a grump, huh? I think the best get to know you is good food and a few really social people to introduce and mingle with the crowd to get them talking.

    I do agree with the Apples to Apples comment above, that is a really fun game.

  16. Lisa says

    I second the Apples to Apples recommendation. It’s easy to learn and really fun. I’ve yet to meet anyone that doesn’t like it.

    And my blog ain’t bad sometimes 😉

  21. Emily R says

    I like 2 truths & a lie, and apples to apples is fun, but the vote for realsies and the vote for funnies might not get along. That sock one sounded hilarious, but my mom, who is sociable as can be, would never let another person touch her feet. Don’t know how many of my moms are out there.

  22. Becky says

    Hmm. As to blogs how about ohthejoys.blogspot.com She is super funny.

    Games: “I’ve never” You need a mess of pennies and cups. Everyone is given a cup with pennies in it. Someone begins “I’ve never…” something true, and everyone who HAS puts a penny in that person’s cup. For example “I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket.” ” I never had braces.”

  23. Stephanie says

    Oh, my blog, duh. 🙂

    The dinner game is fun. But not a great get to know you, but still, hilarious.

    Hide and seek. Let’s play hide and seek.

  25. Rebekah says

    I am certainly not a funny blogger, I blog to keep my family in the states up to date on our life here in Hong Kong, but thanks SO much for this post, it’s giving me TONS of new reading material.

  30. phyllis@imabima says

    party game: put a sticker on each person’s back that has the name of a famous person (or famous place, or something like that perhaps related to a theme) and then each person has to ask questions of the other people that will help clue them into the word/phrase/person on their back…in the course of figuring it out you have conversations. good for a cocktail party where you’re all milling around but lots of people who don’t already know each other!

    i think you should read my blog, of course:-)

    try:
    http://thriceblessedmomma.blogspot.com

    her story is incredible.

  31. Jenny says

    The last ice breaker thing I encountered went something like this: each person gets 10 different colored jelly beans (everyone has the same 10 colors). You go around the room and play rock, paper, scissors… whoever wins that gets to ask for whatever color of jelly bean they want and gives away one they don’t want and also asks a question to whoever they’re playing against at the time. You keep going around playing rock, paper, scissors until someone gets 10 of the same color and is declared the winner. Hope my “directions” make sense.

  33. Cynthia says

    I vote for 2 truths and a lie…you can’t beat it and really wouldn’t you rather hear crazy stuff about people (like I did security for NSync and the Backstreet boys – I weigh like 125 lbs) rather than I have 2 kids and I like Mexican food.

  35. Estee says

    You could come and visit my blog! My husband thinks I am funny. 🙂

    I love the Apples to Apples game. It is fun in a “let’s get to know each other without sharing something so mortifying that I won’t ever be able to look at you again” kind of way. Good luck deciding! 🙂

  40. nottoopensive says

    Wow, it’s late again…

    In answer to #2:

    At the Pensive/Scritchy household, we play lots of Death-Match Trivial Pursuit. The differences between death match version and regular trivial pursuit are:

    1. It’s all about team play. It’s amazing to see what some people know a LOT about, and talking amongst yourselves as a team to get the right answer is a good ice breaker – it gives you all a goal to work towards.

    2. First team to fill up the pie wins – none of this “have to make it to the middle” nonsense.

    3. You can get a pie slice on any place you land on.

    The game goes pretty quickly this way, and we’ve always had a good time playing like this with other couples and groups.

    Additional advantages:
    1. Trivial pursuit is well-known, so it’s not something that seems hokey, forced, or an obvious “get to know you” kind of game – it just happens naturally.

    2. Fond, fond memories of random statements from the game. (Our personal favorite – “wait, Ghandi’s dead? They had guns back then?”)

    3. Being part of a team of, say, 3-5 helps break the ice better than one person awkwardly probing another and vice-versa for information.

    Have fun!

  41. Jessica says

    Toddler Planet is a blog by a SuperMom who is also fighting a rare form of breast cancer–this would be a great feature b/c she is insightful and amazing, but it would also raise awareness of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, which is so so crucial in improving the survival rate:
    http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/

    I also love Absolutely Bananas, she is HY-STER-ICAL:
    http://www.absolutelybananas.com/

    And, I think my blog is super-doooooper…of course! 🙂
    http://www.ahugaroundtheneck.blogspot.com/

    As for icebreakers…I’m sorry, I must be anti-social because I don’t know ONE that would be fun.

  42. surcie says

    I like the mixer in which everybody has the name of one famous person (celebrity, author, historical figure, politician, cartoon character, whatever) taped to his/her back but doesn’t know who it is.

    You discover the identity of the person taped to your back by asking the other players yes/no (and only yes/no) questions about that person. But you can’t ask the same person more than one question in a row.

    If you’re playing with strangers, you introduce yourself to a fellow player before you ask her about the person on your back. (You might think that’d be obvious, but it’s not.)

    The tricky part is coming up with names for everybody, but that’s fun, too.

    As for the blog suggestion: Mom thinks mine is hilarious. But she also says I’m gorgeous, brilliant, and perfect in every way. She’s probably not the most credible reviewer.

  43. Jana says

    A fun game is to play Jenga, where there are questions written on each Jenga piece. It takes time to make the pieces, but who doesn’t like a good game of Jenga?

  44. Sarah says

    One of my favorites is http://welovebigfamilies.blogspot.com/ in the insightful category. It’s a dad who is a very good writer and excellent at getting me to think beyond myself.
    I second the Apples to Apples suggestion also a tired old favorite that I do so love , the Two Truths and a Lie game or it’s oh-so-creative variation Two Lies and a Truth. (It seems obvious but each person tells those three things and the other people guess which one is the odd man out)

  46. Farm Wife says

    While not insightful or inspring, strange things happen at my blog on occasion. Read at your own risk…especially today.
    I also love The Mominatior.

    Getting to know you games? My favorite was one my mom played at a ladies lunch. Everyone picked a penny out of a bowl and had to tell what they were doing the year the penny was coined.

  47. Kate the Great says

    I like Boobs, Injuries, and Dr. Pepper. Yes, it’s a mommy blog, and a hilarious one at that.

    I also like Notes to Self http://www.notestoself.us/ for very different reasons.

    DesignMom.com is a mommy blog as well, but with a twist. I love her.

  49. Lotus Carroll says

    Hey, I got a mention up there, sweet!

    I like:

    http://somedaywewillsleep.blogspot.com – Sleepless Nights
    http://kaiseralex.com – Alex Year One
    http://www.dooce.com – Dooce
    http://www.joyunexpected.com/ – Joy Unexpected
    http://toddleddredge.wordpress.com/ – Toddled Dredge
    http://aweekinthelifeofaredhead.com/ – A Week in the Life of a RH
    http://antiquemommy.com/ – Antique Mommy
    http://frogandtoadarestillfriends.blogspot.com/ – Frog and Toad are Still Friends

    Um… okay, I’ll stop now.

  55. FeeFiFoto says

    I played a game that I thought would be excruciatingly dumb but turned out to be hilarious. It was a quiz where each yes answer gained a point and the winner was the person with the fewest points. Why fewest? Because the questions were things like: Have you ever left your remote in the refrigerator? Have you ever locked the keys in the car with the car running? Have you ever left the house wearing two different shoes?

  57. Monique says

    I like my own blog, but not sure anyone other than my friends of so many years actually reads it, lol!
    I’m just here to repeat- I love Joy Unexpected, Dooce is great and of course- Absolutely Bananas! *sigh* Nothing original here, lol!

    Have fun with the party, I have nothing for you on that aspect either! 🙁

  58. Alkelda the Gleeful says

    I read the Lone Star Ma on a regular basis: http://lonestarmablog.blogspot.com/
    Lone Star Ma is based in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is into progressive politics, and while her posts have a local bent to them, the issues of parenting, schooling and dealing with our society often apply to the rest of the nation as well. She also publishes a hard-copy zine called (you guessed it) Lone Star Ma.

  59. Kathy in WA says

    What a GREAT question! I love how so many people have shared some of their favorite blogs. Now to spend some time reading. I’ve already given up sleep for blogging, what’s next? Cleaning – I’m always ready and willing to abandon that part of daily life. 🙂

    Dh and I write a Tuesday Tips for Parenting each week.

    Duckabush Blog

  60. Angeline Foong Wai Leng says

    Hi, really new to the blogging world. Just setup my blog yesterday nite http://allaboutyourchild.blogspot.com

    Over here in (Asia) Singapore, we play act it out games….eg. come out with a topic, let’s say, “what you do when your child pour his cup of orange juice on you”

    Get one mom to be the kid, all other mom take turns to be ‘mom’ pour “empty cup” on ‘mom’ and see their different responses.

    you will be surprise at some of the things the ‘mom’ do in return. there are mom who actually pour her own cup of juice on the kid….*laugh*

  64. Gift of Green says

    My current favorite are: shameless plug for mine at giftofgreen.blogspot.com, saltandchocolate.blogspot.com, and of course, susiej.com

    Party games…everyone writes down the names of, say, five different famous people on slips of paper (example, six players times five famous people equals 30 names in the hat) and then each team picks from the hat and you have to get the members of your team to guess who you are describing without using the famous person’s name (of course). So, you try to put in really hard ones so the other team won’t guess, but since you are picking them out of the hat randomly, you might get stuck with it too!