I've always been a big fan of playing card or board games. And it's pretty exciting that Buddy is finally getting to that age where it's enjoyable to play games with him. Fortunately for me, he's pretty competitive. Just like me. I'm not a poor sport or anything, but boy do I love to win.
I remember playing Old Maid with my mom when I was his age. I remember my mom laughing hysterically when I pulled the dreaded old maid card. And I remember being devastated when it happened. But then that joy -- absolute elation -- would come over me when my mom picked the card. My mom had a nasty technique to get me to pick the dreaded. She'd hold all of her cards in her hand in the traditional fan, but the old maid would be raised maybe a centimeter or so higher than the others -- to entice her naive child to pick the tallest card. I'm not sure how long it took me to catch on to her trick, but let's put it this way: it only took Buddy twice.
So tonight instead of going to the gym I decided to nurse a headache with a few rounds of Old Maid with Buddy. We hadn't played that game since he's been old enough to fend for himself, so I couldn't wait to put mom's technique to work. I raised the old maid higher in my hand, Buddy picked it, I erupted into a fit of hysterical laughter, which then sent Buddy into a fit of rage. Seriously, I wish you could have seen it. He was freaking out, sobbing, hitting me, throwing his cards, and yelling. I could not stop laughing, even though I knew I was hurting his feelings tremendously. He's only four years old, after all.
In the end, he won the first game, and I won the second. Wonderful times. The the main reason I even had these children is to torment them as much as my dear parents tormented me.
When I put him to bed, I told him how much fun I had and when he told me that I really hurt his feelings when I kept giving him the old maid, I had to carefully explain that I wasn't laughing at him per se, but I was just having so much fun. "And plus Buddy, you'll get to do that to your children one day."
2 comments:
What I have begun to realize is that it works the other way too. The line my parents gave me about having a child as stubborn as me, has now come back to haunt me! I don't remember my parents tormenting me as much as I remember tormenting them and now I am sure my kids will do the same!
Why is it most kids react the same way when they play Old Maid? Although, I remember crying and carrying on if I couldn't be the Old Maid! (You know, if you think about it today, that game may be one of the most sexist and politically incorrect games ever made.)
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