Old School Gaming

Before today's post, I must take care of the cliff-hanger loose-end I left in the last post. What was so miserable about Sunday? Well the Chargers got knocked-out of course. Twas a sad day in San Diego after the improbable streak that led the bolts to the second round of the play-offs. But such is the way of the Charger fan.

On to today.

Long, ago, in a land before microchips, Mario, and HD, we used to entertain ourselves by sitting around the kitchen table and playing classic board games. This year we decided to beef-up our board-game collection and get back to the basics of good wholesome family fun at the hands of legends such as "Sorry, Monopoly, and Operation". There is something that makes me feel really good inside when I open our closet and see all these old games. Maybe it's the nostalgia of it all, or maybe it's the anticipation of knowing that each of these simple boxes hold the promise of a lot of great family interaction and important life lessons.

While video games are awesome for quick thinking and problem solving skills, they definitely can't match the old board games when it comes to basic strategy and interpersonal dynamics. The kids are learning quite a bit in terms of thinking about the ramifications of your moves (a little thing I like to call strategy), and also about sportsmanship. We typically play one every other night. Usually its a lot of fun until one person starts to become the favorite to win, and then the tears usually start on the other side of the table.

I have been compensating for the "I'm gonna lose blues" by using a technique my father used to use on me when I was a kid. We used to play chess, and I was miserable -- so most times we would get to a stage where I was heading for tears at the sight of my decimated situation. My dad, being the clever, patient and kind man that he was, would simply turn the board 180 degrees and viola, I was winning!

Instinctively, Kids care a whole lot more about winning than they do about playing the game.

So I try to employ this with Katie and Andy when things get grim on their side of the board. Amazingly, it still works!