Perfection

I think we've entered "the Age of Games." Yep, that time in the life of children during which they love to play games. And parents try hard to cheat to end them quickly . . . without winning! But how do you cheat at Zingo? Or Perfection? Sure, I can fudge counting in Chutes and Ladders and Sis skips colors in Candyland, but in the end, children's games seem designed to be cheat-proof. There is no gaming the game.

I'm only partially joking . . . or serious. Because, as I've said numerous times before, I'm not much of a game player. But I'm starting to see the value. For one, the kids are happily and peacefully occupied for long periods of time. Secondly, it's quality mom-face time with neither child feeling ignored or jealous even though we're playing together. Sure, thirdly, there are all those educational things: taking turns, being a good sport (in our family this means not gloating, or cheering loudly and longly when you win), following the rules, and whatever skill or strategy involved--matching, counting, strategizing (as Bud does with "dots and dashes" with Mama). Our focus tends to be on having fun instead of winning/competing, so we're sometimes flexible with the rules (like, you don't always have to go back in Candyland if you draw a card, like Candy Cane Lane, behind you). We also usually play until everyone has finished, too, to undermine the win-lose dichotomy.

And it's good that I understand all that because we got several games for their birthday (Is it birthday or birthdays with twins?? They each have one. But it's the same. Singular or plural????). Zingo. Rush Hour. A Curious George at the Beach game. I Spy. Texas Bingo. And now they're pulling out the ones we already had, like Chutes and Ladders, CandyLand, Perfection, Memory, Hi-Ho Cheerio, Tic Tac Toe (which we have in a 3-D wooden format). We spent a pretty good morning playing game after game after game after game. One at a time. Playing together. Congratulating the winner, letting the others play out. Putting them away when we were done.

Perfection.