Card Sharp

For some reason, Mr. P has become fascinated with playing cards. We mostly play War and Go Fish.

He usually kicks my ass at War, but we're a bit more evenly matched at Go Fish.

Isn't that sad, what I just said? That I can barely hold my own against a five year old?

Actually he has been on a big "game" kick lately, which includes begging me to drag out all of his board games. There is a really annoying one that (surprise!) my mom bought, called The Allowance Game and while I value the lessons it teaches of monetary values and the virtues of saving, it's one big snooze for me all the way through. And of course, it takes a very long time to play.

I never remembered playing games with either of my parents, I guess that's what my sister was for, although I don't really remember playing any with her either. There is nothing a ten year old wants to do less than play a board game with her five year old sister.

But on the games that consist more of luck than skill, Mr. P has shown himself to be quite lucky indeed.

We're gonna hold off on teaching him poker, though. You know, maybe when he's six or so we'll tell him how he can con all of his kindergarten buddies out of their candy. Cheating at poker is a family tradition, one that needs to be passed down from generation to generation. I mean, we have to leave him some sort of legacy, don't we?

Comments

Trixie Twatwaffle said…
take him to vegas.
2:24 AM
Steph said…
Right around the 5-year-old mark was when M hit her gaming stride too. We've slowed down some now, but not for her lack of wanting to, rather for our lack of time. That pesky little sister of hers gets in the way, also! ;-)
4:54 AM
Nance said…
All I remember is cheating like hell at Candyland. I hated playing that damn game. I stacked that deck like crazy so my kids would win, and FAST.
7:31 AM
dgm said…
Oh god, not Candyland! My daughter went through a phase (5 years) when that was all she wanted to play. I preferred to have someone stab my eyes with a hot poker. It's soooooo boring.

We just taught my son battleship, which is actually still fun. In general I love games, just not Candyland.
8:05 AM
Sunshine said…
Zach is our big game kid. Lately, all he wants to play is Life. We, being not normal, have the Simpsons version of Life. It's pretty fun but it still takes forever.
8:55 AM
Autumn's Mom said…
I used to love to play yatzee with Autumn, she would always win. I remember playing cards with my mom. She wasn't much into board games. On a friday night, we'd play black jack or 31 for pennies. Those are good memories.
9:18 AM
Piece of Work said…
Isaac is obsessed with crazy eights these days. Fortunately, though, he's not that good at it yet so if I beat him a few times he's usually ready to go play something else.
9:28 AM
Scout said…
My kids and I played so many board games, what should be a linen closet is stuffed full of games. My favorite was Mouse Trap, and the one that made me cringe every time it was requested was Where In the World Is Carmen Santiago. I loved the computer game, but the cardboard one was such a drag.
2:38 PM
J said…
Oh, Mousetrap...I loved that game. One thing I don't like about parenthood, is going back and playing new versions of these games, and I don't like the new versions with all of their stupid changes. Sigh.

Teach him to count cards, so you can get rich in Vegas.
3:48 PM
Heather Plett said…
Ah yes - one day he'll be ten and he'll beat you at Scrabble, and he'll dance around the house telling everyone that "Mom's not smarter than a fifth grader!" They're just SO charming.
5:05 PM
Unknown said…
I used to put a straw in my red wine whenever my son would ask me to sit down and play "Sorry". I think I now fully understand the name for this game...
Catherine, the redhead
A Week In the Life of A Redhead
9:39 PM
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