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Board Games: The Fast-Track To Family Conflict

Board games are an activity steeped in nostalgia.

I remember playing marathon Cribbage games with my mom at the age of 6,  running to my dad every hand so he could tell me what to discard. I remember playing Rumoli with my whole family during two-day rural power outages. I remember playing Scrabble with my mom while drinking a Caesar (for non-Canadians, a Caesar is the lesser-known but more likeable cousin of the Bloody Mary).

This summer has been the time when I’ve tried to create some board game memories with my 6-year-old twins. Here are a few examples:

Crazy Eights: Once I read the 243 versions of rules available on the internet, we started playing. It went well until I won three games in a row. We haven’t played since.

There's a reason the word "crazy" is in the title

Trouble: My son is incapable of playing this without cheating or throwing pieces or popping the dice bubble so hard the pieces fly.

Checkers: My daughter had a first rate meltdown when her dad crowned his third king. She has to win. At everything. My husband remarked, “Now I know how Michael Jordan’s parents felt.”

Clue Junior: What follows is the chain reaction that ended tonight’s game.

Vivian: “I made a mistake! I get to go again! It’s not fair! I didn’t mean to!” [tears welling up]

William: “If she goes again, she’s cheating!” [throws dice]

Me: “Let’s stop and call it a tie.” [picking up pieces, including the dice in the adjacent room]

William: “I never win! No one loves me!” [exit to weep on staircase]

Vivian: “Let’s sell this game.” [steps over brother, stomps upstairs, slams door]

Vivian’s idea is one possibility: let’s sell all the games. Another one is alcohol: now I know why my mom always drank while playing games with us.

*

Any game memories out there?

Filed Under: Hilarious Family Moments, Wild Gen X Tales Tagged With: board games, checkers, clue, Crazy 8s, kids, trouble

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. jan markley says

    August 10, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    I’m sure you could get a few bucks for it on ebay ;-j.

    I just remember playing monopoly with my brothers and it never ended! I don’t think I ever played a game of monopoly that ended.

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:32 pm

      ebay=brilliant

      Reply
  2. Deidra23 says

    August 10, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    My Grandmother always wanted to be the banker when we played monopoly. It took until I was 10 or so to figure out it was so she could cheat. 🙂

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:32 pm

      ROFL. I love your Grandma.

      Reply
  3. Sarah Kramer says

    August 10, 2010 at 9:30 pm

    I think my parents taught us how to play Monopoly as it kept us occupied for hours and hours – I remember one game going on for days!!! I’ve tried Trouble with my kids (4 and nearly 6) and it always ends with Trouble!

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:33 pm

      Yes, trouble=trouble. Now, the only game that’ll keep kids occupied for hours is Call of Duty. No game systems here though. Yet.

      Reply
  4. Jen says

    August 11, 2010 at 6:03 am

    Ah, board games. I haven’t played one in ages. I bet my oldest is ready to try some. Great way to teach math. 🙂

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:34 pm

      Of course, the correlation between board games and math could be why a lot of students detest the latter. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Susan says

    August 11, 2010 at 6:13 am

    As a child, my signature move became known as “Flipping The Board”. Particularly when playing Monopoly. My family learned to see when it was coming. I would complain intently for while, try cheating, then get very quiet, and then…boom. Game over.

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:34 pm

      LMAO. Perhaps my son will graduate from “Throwing the Dice” to “Flipping the Board.” Hilarious.

      Reply
  6. Mom says

    August 11, 2010 at 6:47 am

    Are games really supposed to be fun?????

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:35 pm

      Great question.

      Reply
  7. mommyhaynes says

    August 11, 2010 at 8:49 am

    My mom and I are still to this day very competitive at Monopoly.

    We also loved Rail Baron.

    But I want to thank you for this post. You gave me a great idea to hang out with my mom while she’s recovering from surgery!

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:35 pm

      I’m going to look up Rail Baron. Haven’t heard of it. Hope your mom gets well soon! Go for Boardwalk!

      Reply
  8. Jen says

    August 11, 2010 at 11:05 am

    My brother and I played Monopoly (he is older than me, this is important) the game went on for hours which I am sure pleased our parents but it always ended when someone threw up the board in frustration scattering all the pieces and money all over the place.

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 11, 2010 at 12:36 pm

      This has me laughing…and gives me hope that my kids’ behaviour is abnormally normal. Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  9. Lorraine says

    August 11, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    I remember begging my mom to play cribbage with me one summer. Grampa did. Gramma did. Not mom. Please, please, please. I tailed her around for days, begging. The answer was always “No, dear. Mommy doesn’t like cribbage.” I thought it was because she was rotten at it and couldn’t stand to lose to one of her own kids, so I stepped up the offensive. Finally, she put down her Agatha Christie, sighed heavily, got out of the lawnchair and came inside to have a sweet little game of cards with her eldest. Within 10 minutes, she had double-skunked me. Probably it was more like triple-skunked. As she put her sunglasses back on, she whispered: “Tell the others. I am a cribbage goddess and cannot be beaten. That’s why I never play with you children.”

    I think we could all learn a little something from her.

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 12, 2010 at 7:12 am

      I love your mom. Reminds me of the scene in “To Kill a Mockingbird” where Atticus Finch, who refuses to buy his kids guns, shoots a single shot to kill the rabid dog who’s terrorizing the town. Shocks his kids. Triple skunk = wow.

      Reply
  10. Conflicted Mean Girl says

    August 11, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    Board games are STILL a problem when we are all home visiting my parents. I come from a long line of overly competitive sore losers.

    Reply
    • ironicmom says

      August 12, 2010 at 7:13 am

      That makes me laugh. Good way to get out family tensions, I suppose. Or maybe create it, which wouldn’t be so good.

      Reply
  11. Aging Mommy says

    August 13, 2010 at 6:42 am

    Oh this post brings back so many memories! Some of which now thinking about them hold far greater significance than they did back then. Our game of choice was Monopoly and my sister would just spend whatever she had and buy whatever piece she landed on with no overriding strategy – then when inevitably the money ran out and she was out she would throw everything up in the air and run from the room sobbing. We’ve not reached that stage where my daughter gets competitive which is rather fun trying to explain that actually no you don’t want my domino pieces and Daddy’s as well because then you will never win 🙂

    Reply
  12. ironicmom says

    August 13, 2010 at 7:36 am

    I like your sister. Carpe diem, and then freak out when the moment gets painful. Enjoy the non-competitive stage. I don’t seem to remember that one.

    Reply

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