Playing Games

   I love playing games.  I prefer card games, but I also enjoy board games.  I also have a strong opinion about letting kids win.  You don't.  I don't care if they are poor losers, you need to help them become better losers.  If for no other reason than they will one day play with other people and it stinks to play with poor losers.  Don't let you kid be a poor loser.

 Also, my kids, knowing I never let them win, glow with accomplishment when they, in fact, beat me.  (Eric does, too) Something that is occurring more and more lately (including in cribbage).  The other day, Dom beat me in four moves at chess.  It's called Scholar's Mate, apparently. (Note to self: Look up how to defend Scholar's Mate)

 4 years ago, we started playing games to close out the old year.  We skipped one year when most of us were sick, but we were able to have a really great New Year's Eve Party with just our family.

 John even played in a few games an won.  And when he wasn't playing, he is frequently content to sit and watch.  A new game we received at Christmas is called "Not Parent Approved" and it is very similar to Apples to Apples, only a phrase is started and everyone submits a completion.  The judge rotates around the table, and whoever's card is picked the most wins.   John won.  You don't need to read to play, just toss in a card.  Frequently with hilarious results.  Which, of course, is the ultimate goal.  Make William laugh.

 John also won "No Speed Limit".  With a little help from me, his trusty teammate.

 Molly did not make it midnight, but John did!

 And slept it off the next day:

 Playing all of those games jump started our year and we have been playing them more regularly.  We are currently playing a chess tournament, that I will not win. (See earlier statement about losing in 4 moves)

But, the boys and Eric (and even Molly) are reading a couple of chess strategy books.  I love that they are inspired to study the game in order to improve.  And, yet, I do not feel the same inspiration.  But, you know what? It's ok. I get to win often enough.  Eric and I are going to teach the boys Spades this year...I'll get mine back then.

 I introduced Bananagrams to the boys.  And I was impressed with how well they did.  Spelling is not their best subject, so this is a nice way to get some practice without drilling.

 One morning, I was just worn out from all of the activities in the last month.  Between you and me, if they had asked, I would have totally let them watch television.  But, they didn't ask.  Dom and Will got out Axis and Allies and started playing.  And that pretty much knocked out the morning.

 And then they invited Eric to play a game.  A game that lasted 6 hours over three nights.  It was pretty epic.  Or so I am told.

Another morning, I again was feeling sluggish, but I invited them to play Otrio.  Also a game we received at Christmas.  It is a more complicated version of tic tac toe.  So, very easy to learn, but gets incredibly challenging.  Particularly when playing with 4 players.  I really like it because the games are so short.  It is like the opposite of Axis and Allies. 

We have played several other games as well including Sagaland (John makes this game particularly entertaining), Catan (Will won for the first time), Spontuneous (Which I'm pretty sure my sisters and I could not get through...and I learned Will and Dom truly love to sing and are clearly related to Katie and Mitzi), Las Vegas (A fun dice game that makes William a little crazy), National Park Yahtzee (Just like Yahtzee only with National Park Themed Dice...not shutdown effected), Left-Right-Center (John loves this game and we should probably play it more so Dom can practice Left and Right...as can I), and today I introduced them to Balderdash.  The game was ok, but it was really neat to discover answer sheets from our first year in Ohio...which tells you how long it has been since we played.  But, we didn't have enough kids who could read and write until now!  I knew I should hang on to it...take that Marie Kondo!  It sparks JOY!!

OH, we also discovered that Molly's favorite game, Telestrations, is much more fun when we add friendly scoring.  I still don't love it...but, Dom has started to request it more and more, which means I am losing an ally when it comes to voting for the evening's game. 

So, we are off to a solid start as far as playing more games.  Even if I am losing more, I feel like I'm winning.