We bought a checkers game the other day and played it for the first time with the child and it all went well...until it didn't.
It took us a while because I think the last time any of the adults played we were probably about her age and as my age was posted online yesterday - it's been a few years.
The first game did not go well for anybody as we did not realize that we could only move one one direction so the first game was really fast because nobody knew what they were doing.
BW played a game or two and then I stepped in to take up the challenge. She's still getting her mind wrapped around the concept of the game and that the move you make right now might affect you later.
So. I won. 3 times.
This did not go over well. My last move was a double jump so she went from having 2 pieces on the board to zero.
I waited because I knew the tears were coming.
You could see her little brain processing what the heck just happened and then I watched her face get redder and redder and her smile turning upside down and then it was a full on bawl of tears and sadness.
"I want a huggie!", she screamed.
You can have all the huggies you want, but it's a just a game and then I told her that it's okay to lose a game and that one day
"Yeah, piped in BW "I beat daddy all the time at Scrabble"
Thanks a lot, BW. Thanks for rubbing it in.
Now I want a huggie.
She's learning that winning is fun, but losing can be too because we all know:
It doesn't matter if you win or lose, and we are trying to teach her that it's a game and all that matters is how much fun we playing. The scorekeeping is secondary.
When she calmed down and got her composure back she had an idea:
"Let's Play Monopoly!!" she said.
No. That's enough games and tears for one day.