The Evolution of a Ping Pong Table

Back in August, my kids wanted to have their cousins come for a sleepover before school started. I wasn’t really sure how to keep the teenage boys happy and busy (I’m not a good activity provider), so I sponsored an outing to see Top Gun: Maverick and sent them away for a few hours. When they came back, I was once again worried about entertaining them, but it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. 

The boys found some brand new ping pong paddles in the garage (stuff Scotty brings home from work that I don’t even know we own) and decided to build a make-shift ping pong table by clamping a piece of baseboard to my kitchen table for a net. 

This kept them busy for hours and sparked a dream - a dream to find a ping pong table to keep in Grandma’s garage. 

Nicky scoured the classifieds for several days and kept finding tables for free or cheap, but Scotty would say, “We’ll get one when I get back from South America.” 

The South America trip came and went, but a case of COVID followed, and then we went to Disney World, so the ping pong table dream got pushed aside for a few weeks. 

Nicky really wanted to have a ping pong table for General Conference, but every time he found one in the classifieds, it got snatched up before he could get to it. 

For General Conference entertainment, Nicky and his cousins once again made a make-shift ping pong table. This time they used folding tables and pieces of wood, and Grandpa couldn’t help but join the fun.

My little three-year-old nephews also wanted in on the action and needed a ping pong table of their own. 

This week, Nicky was finally able to snag a free ping pong table from the classifieds. He and Scotty went and picked up it and took it to Grandma’s garage. The lady getting rid of it was so happy to see it go to some enthusiastic young whippersnappers. On Saturday, Nicky and his cousin spent a few hours putting it together and giving it a test run. 

On Sunday, Nicky couldn’t wait to go to Grandma’s house to play each of us. 

It wasn’t news to me, but I’m terrible at ping pong. I was happy to be knocked out of the competition in less than two minutes. 

I opted out of the “sting pong” rules where the loser has to take a hit to the backside.

Nicky and Scotty (and maybe Grandpa) are all covered in welts.

I know Nicky’s enthusiasm for ping pong will die over time, but it’s been fun to see him so excited about something. All week long he kept saying, “Mom! Guess who has a ping pong table?” 

I bet it’s someone whose grandma has a big garage! (Luckily).