Mother May I?
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Mother May I? is a children's game. Also known as "Captain May I?"
[edit] Objective, Rules, and General Gameplay
One player, particularly a female (but sometimes a male) plays the "mother" or "father". The other players are the "children". To begin the game, the mother or father stands at one end of a room, while all the children line up at the other end. The children take turns asking "Mother/Father, may I ____?" and makes a movement suggestion. For example, one might ask, "Mother, may I take five steps forward?" The mother/father either replies "Yes, you may" or "No, you may not do that, but you may _____ instead" and inserts his/her own suggestion. The players usually move closer to the mother/father but are sometimes led farther away. Even if the mother/father makes an unfavourable suggestion, the child must still perform it, since it is his parent's wishes! The first of the children to reach the location of the mother/father wins the game. That child then becomes the mother/father himself, the original mother/father becomes a child, and a new round begins.
Some suggestions that fill in the "Mother, may I ____?" blank include:
- Take (#) steps forward
- Take (#) GIANT steps forward (usually a small number, due to large step size)
- Take (#) BABY steps forward (usually a large number, due to tiny step size)
- Hop forward like a frog, (#) times
- Run forward for (#) seconds
- Crabwalk forward for (#) seconds
If the "children" are reaching the "mother" or "father" too quickly, the "mother"/"father" may reject the child's suggestion by replacing it with "No, you may not do that, but you may ____ instead."
- (He may reduce the original child's suggestion. For example, he could reduce five giant steps to three giant steps.)
- Take (#) steps backward
- Run backward for (#) seconds
- Walk backward until I (mother/father) say "stop"
- Return to the starting line (in rare cases!)
Of course, half the fun of the game is letting the players come up with their own fun ways to move closer to the "mother"/"father." A player should not stick solely to the suggestions in the above lists!
[edit] References in fictional media
Mother Mae-Eye is the name of a villain from the Teen Titans animated series.
