I'll Buy It!

"There's something you need to know before we start. There is no way you will be able to win this game. I am the best Monopoly player in this family and you don't have a chance so just enjoy playing and no crying when I win."

Alton and Alayna were staring at me with their mouths wide open, not believing what they had just heard me say. I didn't say it because I am a boastful, arrogant person, who derives great pleasure from "talking trash" to her children. My comment served a much greater purpose. It was part of a new strategy to get through playing a game with them without Alayna crying or Alton stomping off to his room everytime Rob and I win a game. You see Rob and I believe that when you play someone better than yourselves, you get better yourself and so basically, we don't just "let" them win any games we play.

The game that evening was Monopoly. Having many pleasant memories of logging endless hours playing this game with my siblings, and thinking it would be a great supplement to their Math work, I ushered them into the world of paying rents, managing money, and snatching up Boardwalk as quick as possible. I schooled them on many tricks early on in the game...buy everything you land on, acquire a monopoly as soon as possible, and be shrewd in your trades.

Thirty minutes into the game, I started to have an uncomfortable feeling and so I made an assessment of the situation and slowly began to realize that my children had learned well from me as they both had monopolies and I had none. When developing these properties, Alayna in particular, saw no need to have houses, but to just go ahead and buy hotels on Mediterranean and Baltic. Alton was enjoying buying houses piece by piece on his New York etc..monopoly. Having bought everything I landed on and still being unable to acquire one, and the children being less than reasonable with me when it came to selling me some of their properties, and my dollars dwindling, I found myself very close to eating some serious crow.

There was one concept they were not catching on to, and this has been an issue in real life when they spend their money. Alton kept paying me way over what the rent cost so that he could get change. Alayna commented several times when the bank gave her change, that she was "really making some money now." I kept trying to explain over and over that they were not making in money by me giving them change; that is was left over from what they paid me, but it just doesn't seem to be taking. Alton landed on one of my properties that was $20 rent and proceeded to try and pay me with a $50! This I didn't allow as I was running a little low on small bills and once again launched into my explanation about receiving change.

Fortunately, the other thing I told them at the beginning of the game, was that we would not finish that night. We set it up on the Dining Room table so it could sit out and we have played it about 3 nights with no end in sight (unless I land on New York my next turn), so I am it appears, just delaying the inevitable and I will very soon be losing one of the first games of Monopoly I have lost in a very, very, long time and that to one of my inexperienced children!