If you watch the girls’ videos you may know about the monkey game that has been part of our family for many years.
The game originally started with a yellow matchbox car Chitter found on the playground at school.
Thinking it would be funny she hid the car in something of The Deer Hunter’s and then waited on him to find it. Once he found it, he hid it in something of Chitter’s and the game was born. It didn’t take long for Chatter to start playing along too.
Somewhere along the way the car was swapped out for a small toy monkey.
It’s an interesting game but you have to be in it for the long haul because sometimes it takes weeks or even months for the monkey, or previously the car, to be found.
They’ve been hidden in all sorts of places like drawers, socks, vitamin bottles, bags of coffee, hunting paraphernalia, vehicles, instrument cases, and yes even cheeseburgers.
Although the game has always been fun for me to watch I’ve never played along until recently.
I was cleaning up the kitchen table and found the monkey still sitting where it had been left after being discovered the last time. Someone had a large cup of water sitting there. The cup was black and since I knew it wouldn’t be easily seen at first glance I dropped the monkey into the water.
I figured the drink was either Chitter or Chatter’s and that when they found it they’d say something about it and we’d all laugh. But when that didn’t happen immediately I totally forgot about the monkey.
A week or so later I was sitting at my computer working. I had left a small bag of cookies by my desk and decided to have a little snack. On about the third reach for a cookie I came up with the monkey.
Turns out it was Chatter’s water and after she questioned her sister and daddy she knew I was the one who put the monkey in her cup.
Last night’s video: Making a Backstop for Target Practice.
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I had been wondering when that monkey was going to show up again!
I love that you all take part in playing the game! It was great when the folks at the restaurant participated and put it under Matt’s burger. So much fun!!
I’ve never heard of the monkey game. We use to kid around with our kids about money rats under their bed if they didn’t go to sleep. That would be a fun game.
I just asked about the monkey about a month ago. It was a cute and funny family conversation when it was found in the cheeseburger. Love it!
Always an interesting read….God Bless
This couldn’t have come at a better time. I love it. I remember when the girls hid the monkey in Hunter’s Hamburger. I watched that video. This put a smile on my face, believe me, I was down.
Tipper, I got your cookbook. I love so much. I ordered it from Amazon. I am going to let my Mom read it and if she likes it. Oil am going to get one. Mom will be 85 this month. I will be 63. I was born 3 days before her birthday.
I would love to get my grandsons playing that game. And my granddaughters too.
Tipper.
The first thing I thought about when reading your story was Geocaching. You all might have been the forerunners to Geocaching!
Geocaching
Outdoor recreational activity
geocaching.com
Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called geocaches or caches, at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. Wikipedia
Nicknames Caching, treasure hunting
First played May 3, 2000, Beavercreek, Oregon
Team members Optional
Expanding on this for clarification, the containers were used to retrieve something and leave something for the next visitor to the site. I have a little black bear figurine which I retrieved from a container on Roan Mountain, TN years ago. I left a one-dollar bill and sometimes wonder if the next person still has the one-dollar bill.
What a fun and cute family game tradition! This family made up game will hopefully continue for generations to come.
Lol. She gotcha.
I read of a mother and daughter doing that with a particularly ugly shirt. Sometimes it would take months for it to show up, like under the dining room or under a box spring mattress.
Teresa, My wife and one of her cousins used to buy sarcastic cards for one another and “recycle” them to one another for special occasions like birthdays.
I’m glad you are in on the monkey game now. We have a little green frog that has been hid through the years quite a bit. Then, we also do the elf on the shelf, and it thrills the granddaughters that GiGi and Granddaddy have an elf at their house during the holidays and since it’s just us here, we take turns and it’s really fun. The only thing is, we have to hide her every day since it’s just for Christmas and we really have to get creative. It is fun though. I guess that’s the kid in us. There is joy in the simple things for sure.
Dont you love the simple ways that close families have fun with each other. Inside jokes from years spent together can always make us smile. Many years ago, when my son was 5 or 6 (he’s 46 now) he hung a silly small yellow plastic charm man on our Christmas tree. It really stood out from the other fancy mercury glass ornaments that were handed down from grandmothers on both sides of the family. I stuck that plastic man in the ornament box when Christmas was over & every Christmas after, it was placed on our tree. Once my son had a family of his own, I gifted him that small yellow charm man & now he hangs on his tree with a smile & a story.
m’liss-Your comment makes me smile and warms my heart.
What a fine game! Thank you, Tipper, for the smile you and your family gave to me today.
P.S. Continuing to ask God to comfort and heal Granny.
I love this story! You’ve probably heard of the painted rock game. Like the Monkey Game but in public. I have found two and strangely the last one keeps appearing again–must have turned into a family game. It is painted like a Halloween pumpkin. Our son loves pranks–last year he put a Dollar Tree motion activated witch in the linen closet.
Keep us informed where the monkey shows up. I love the idea. Prayers for Granny.
Our familys’ was an ugly green Avon bottle. It was my grandmothers’ and oh my goodness it was ugly! We passed that thing around in Christmas presents, birthday stuff, you name it, we did everything. Then over time it stopped. My mother passed away, then my dad and the ugly green vase was swallowed up in the grief. Several months ago one of my sisters asked if I knew what happened to it. We all had negative responses. To make a long story short, she went on eBay, found the exact duplicate of ugly! We are all eagerly waiting for Christmas to see who gets that ugly green bottle! Tradition continues!!
Amy-I’m glad it will continue 🙂
I am confused about which twin is Chitter and which one is Chatter. Can anyone enlighten me, please?
Theresa-corie is Chatter and Katie is Chitter. My niece April named them because of their talky nature 🙂
My family has had a similar game for years, played by re-gifting the ugliest Chia-pet you’ve ever seen each year at Christmas. It’s been going on for so long (over 15 years) that I can’t remember what it looks like. But we don’t all get together at Christmas anymore, which is sad. My aunt is the only one from her generation that has played the game and she’s a great great grandmother. The youngest ones in our family aren’t going to know anything about the dread of opening a package that may contain the unwanted Chia-pet. Now I’m a bit depressed…
Melanie, we do that gift thing with a big, awful looking carved fish that was originally a white elephant gift at a church social gathering. Each family member recipient autographs and dates it then gets to select the next recipient. I like the Pressleys’ monkey business better.
What a fun game! I hope it lasts for generations!
Such a fun reminder of love within a family. Joy comes in so many forms.
Have a blessed day.
Is there a second car that you hide because I sent one to chitter?
Remington-there might be one that I don’t know about 🙂
Well, it is a useful skill to make ones’ own fun. I used to tell my co-workers, “Nobody is gonna bring us any.” And indeed, they never did. Now if that monkey just had a little dab of Velcro …. there would be more possibilities.
That’s so funny Tipper—and now you have joined the game!
Tipper, didn’t you hide one in the garden when you and Matt were working some time ago?
The monkey game reminds me of the “elf on the shelf “ game the kids play today at Christmas.
Everyone have a great Friday! Sending blessings your way.
Brenda-seems like I did assist with hiding it for Matt 🙂 Enjoy your day!!
My husband and I used to play the “monkey game.” We had a little ceramic figurine of a Boxer dog that we used. I’m not even sure where it came from. But that little dog would show up in the funniest of places. Sometimes he would be hidden for weeks. We never let on that we were looking for him though. One day he got knocked off or dropped or something and he shattered and it ended our little game. This makes me want to find something else and start it all over again now that cooler weather is coming and we will be in the house more.
You all INVENT WAYS TO HAVE FUN and that’s a wonderful thing in this life where things can be difficult at best. I’ve never thought of such a shenanigan, but it seems quite joyful, humorous and funny. Imagine coming up with a monkey in your cup or cookie bag knowing some “weisenheimer” put it there as a stunt!!! I bet you laugh til you’re silly and that’s a very good thing indeed! What a family and what cool ideas!!!
What fun! My late husband and I had a similar game going for a while, only with a yellow golf ball…..love it!
That is so funny!
We started something like that with a hideous doll I found at the thrift store. I hid it at my sister-in-law’s house. Unfortunately, COVID happened and we weren’t able to hide it anymore, but I may have to find something small and easier to hide.
I remember seeing the one with the cheeseburger. It was great!!
Laura Lee….I love that! My two sisters and I have something similar going on right now with a creepy doll. My oldest sister is 81 yrs. old, and the other is 79. I’m 70 this year, which goes to show that age doesn’t cancel out sisterly fun, right?
what a fun game. I love how your family is always up for family time
Making memories. Also sounds like it is a way to clean clutter out of one’s life. Thinking in my case, that monkey could hide out for a few months or even years.
I love your monkey game. I think the last one was I saw was ib the Deer Hunters cheeseburger. Your story today reminded me of the one and only time my mother played an April fools day trick on my family. To preface, we lived in a rural area with farms all around us. It was not uncommon for a farm animal to get away and wander into our yard. We actually, had a horse for about a week until the owners claimed him. We just fed him (we had pony) and put up a sign at our local mom and pop store.
My brother’s and sisters always pranked each other on April fools day. Sometimes, our dad would also, but never my mother. It was the usual hectic day, getting ready for school (seven kids,5 girls and 2 boys,one bathroom). We were sitting at the table waiting for our school bus. Mom was drying a pan and looked out the window. she said, “huh, that’s the biggest bull I’ve ever seen”. We all fell over ourselves to get to the window. We were yelling “where mom, we don’t see it! She just smile. Once we figured it out we all had a great laugh. She never did another April fools and it became one of our “remember when” stories for years to come.