Lifelong Learning: The games we like to play

I have children. Therefore, I can tell you that when they were small, I “lost” every board game, card game or sports game we played together. If my children are reading this right now, I say to them, “Yes, I used to let you win.”

When my children were small, I had to work hard to peek at their UNO cards so I’d know which color to play so they would win. I used to make horrible decisions on which properties to buy in Monopoly , again so they would win. I let them win despite the competitiveness in me that hated losing. As they got a bit older, I would let them win some of the time and then I would win some. We worked on being gracious winners and losers.

Chloe is 12 now and I recently taught her how to play some card games that I grew up playing with my grandparents, including Cribbage, Pitch and Pinochle. We now try to play a game every night together-it’s great quality time. She’s quickly turned into a good card player. I now lose just as much as I win.

There’s a lot to be learned from working with others in card games and board games, besides just winning and losing. The elements of appropriate social interaction, winning and losing graciously, taking turns and being satisfied with doing your best are all important.

I love card games and board games for academic reasons as well. My daughter, Payton, would rather not play competitive card games with others. Instead, she loves solitaire. She would rather compete with the deck or with the game itself. Either way, she’s indirectly working on math and problem solving. Not long ago, I actually taught her how to play solitaire with real cards, not with an app or a game on an electronic device. There was a real deal of cards, real dealing and real shuffling.

The other benefit to playing board games or card games with my children is that we are spending good time together. We talk while shuffling. We aren’t keyed in to our electronic devices. We laugh a lot. It’s so important to find moments together as we are all so busy with our own things.

I like to run. When the kids were small, I would put them in the jogging stroller and run while pushing them. Then, as they grew, I would run and they would bike along side of me. Our next progression was running together. Every morning Aly and I ran together. We start running at the same time but she finishes before me. She is already cooling down as I finish. But, hey, I’m still out there running. I’m still pushing play and moving forward. I’m still participating and I’m doing my best.

One day after running, I apologized for being slow and Aly said, “Mom, you are my inspiration. You don’t have to be doing this at all. But you are.” That made my whole day. Then of course, Chloe followed up with, “Wow, and you’re four times as old as me! It’s amazing you’re still upright.”