Jo Baby and Mama

This is a game my little sister and I made up sometime I was in college. There are no rules and it’s super fun to play.

You get to role play white trash.

Aha! I’ve got your attention now!

I remember the first time we played this game. Meg and I were outside in the driveway; it was early evening in the summer. We had been tanning on quilts in the driveway while wearing matching cheap, ugly neon-orange-and-yellow plaid bikinis we bought at Wal-Mart. We then started to water my mom’s flowers with the hose. (We may have even been super helpful and washed the cars.) Meg and I can crack each other up like no one’s business, and when one of us slips into character, the other follows. Jo Baby and Mama just showed up.

Jo Baby is the younger character (older teenager-ish or maybe young twenties).

Mama is the mother of Jo Baby; she is probably late thirties, early forties max. (She had Jo Baby young.)

(Meg and I play both characters. You can, too! Age doesn't determine who plays what-- mood does!)

If you happen not be wearing an ugly fluorescent bikini, get into character by making your top into a Daisy Duke affair by pulling the bottom through your neckline and cinching it tight, accentuating your boobs. It’s okay if your abs jiggle. If you are Mama, it’s even better if your abs jiggle. If you have some super-short jean shorts that your fanny hangs out of, slip into those. Put on mascara and then rub your eyes to achieve the classic, “I slept in my makeup” look or, even better, the “I haven’t washed my makeup off since I started putting it on twenty years ago” look. Rat your hair.

Now, just start talking. Get upset. Get twangy. If you are Mama, you can say things like, “Jo Baby, I done told you. . .”, and if you are Jo Baby, intersperse the conversation with phrases such as “But, Mama. . .” and other whiny discourse.

Men, don’t worry. There’s room in this game for you. The possibilities are endless. Maybe you are Mama’s current squeeze. Maybe you are Jo Baby’s. Or even better, maybe you are Jo Baby’s squeeze now, but you used to be Mama’s. Maybe you are some idiot cousin who is sleeping on the couch in the trailer for a few nights because your girlfriend/parents/best friend kicked you out. Maybe you are the foreman of the trailer park and are in love with Mama, but she won’t give you the time of day.

You can even take the game to the next level by doing Jager shots while playing. (Meg and I have never done this, but I think that it would open up whole new story lines in the "Jo Baby and Mama" saga.)

Whatever you do, just make it a redneck version of “The Young and The Restless” and have fun!