As a Dad, I have the edge on most games with my kids. I can cream my 6 year old son (Mack) in checkers. I can conquer my 10 year old daughter (Yliana) in chess. I can even wallop my 15 year old son (Josiah) in Lord of the Rings Risk (but not every time!). But rarely can I survive the chaos due in the next game of Chutes and Ladders!
You spin the wheel and you cross your fingers and hope against hope that the space you land on will not be the seven row, lead erasing, drop down that pesky Chute ("slide" for the uninitiated). I watch Mack, a tough C & L competitor, agonize over visiting the same Chute 3 times in a row. My eight year old cheerleader Sequoia ("You can do it , Daddy) climbs into second place only to slip down to third the next turn. Oh, and most frustrating of all, my 4 year old (Havilah) floats into first place, second row from the top, narrowly missing instant death and has no idea. She Has No Idea. In fact, she wants to leave and go see what mommy is doing. Two sets of eyes (OK, 3) will her to walk her little oblivious self out of the room and out of first place. But No. Its her turn again and she likes spinning. And she trusts that we are going to tell her where to move. She actually trusts us! And there she goes, skipping by the last Chute that could possibly take her out of first. And she wins.
Daggers are flying her way and she bounces out of the room to find Mommy. I look over to my 6 year old Mack. He says, "Let's see who comes in second." Now, that's what I'm talking about!
You spin the wheel and you cross your fingers and hope against hope that the space you land on will not be the seven row, lead erasing, drop down that pesky Chute ("slide" for the uninitiated). I watch Mack, a tough C & L competitor, agonize over visiting the same Chute 3 times in a row. My eight year old cheerleader Sequoia ("You can do it , Daddy) climbs into second place only to slip down to third the next turn. Oh, and most frustrating of all, my 4 year old (Havilah) floats into first place, second row from the top, narrowly missing instant death and has no idea. She Has No Idea. In fact, she wants to leave and go see what mommy is doing. Two sets of eyes (OK, 3) will her to walk her little oblivious self out of the room and out of first place. But No. Its her turn again and she likes spinning. And she trusts that we are going to tell her where to move. She actually trusts us! And there she goes, skipping by the last Chute that could possibly take her out of first. And she wins.
Daggers are flying her way and she bounces out of the room to find Mommy. I look over to my 6 year old Mack. He says, "Let's see who comes in second." Now, that's what I'm talking about!
1 comment:
You play C & L with your kids?!? You are a brave, brave man. My hat's off to you, sir.
You know, if I had a hat...
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