Monopoly Madness

I LOVE games. Any game will do, cards, board, computer, strategy, logic, luck, chance... I LOVE THEM! I can spend entire weekends in Seattle playing Canasta or Scrabble. Long weekends in Salem playing so many games of Pinochle I don't remember the sun setting. I'll play "memory match" with my niece, I'll even let her win if it means I can play another round!

On the other hand, it's no secret, Lucas HATES games. He'll play them, he's even good at them, but he hates them. I'll get him to play Boggle when we're camping, and we'll play "battle" ( our version of war, with only half a deck) but besides that, he hates them.

I knew this when I married him, really I think it's his only downfall. I grew up with an entire closet devoted to games, weekends full of games, chocolate milk and nacho cheese Doritoes. He grew up never even playing Go Fish.

When we first got married, I tried to make him play Monopoly. He made it around the board twice, before he declared it "stupid" and walked away. This weekend in Boise was another story. During nap time, Suzi, Nathanael, and Us played a game of Monopoly. (I think it was even Lucas' idea, maybe it's something in the Boise air, or that he secretly liked playing "Guess Who?") It was overall a short game. Maybe two hours. At the end of the hours, Lucas won. No one let him win either, he won fair and square... and I think he's still riding on the andrenaline of winning.

There's nothing like winning a game of Monopoly... investing the time, squeezing money out of other players, building the little red hotels. By the time the game was through, Lucas had Hotels from St. James to Pennsylvania... the oranges, reds, yellows, AND greens! He was my own Donald Trump. He won, and with that MAYBE I did two a little bit... MAYBE now he'll play more games with me... I won't bet Boardwalk on it... but maybe he'll dream of little green houses or the glorious victory.