Last June I purchased Candy Land for Madison, thinking that it would be a fun way to solidify her knowledge of colors, help with counting and a great way to ease her into family game night.
It wasn't.
At. All.
She didn't want to take turns, she didn't want to follow the directions and when she inevitably lost, she threw herself on the floor and cried. It was an ugly scene, one that didn't bear repeating.
Candy Land went back into the dark recesses of the game closet--until she was a little older.
A little older she is, so out came the game. We (Maddie and I) sat down to give it one more try. I explained the rules, we picked our little gingerbread men and drew our cards, (that Mommy stacked so the "proper" outcome would prevail.) The game went fast, Maddie grasped the "my turn, your turn" concept, she touted each color as the cards were drawn, she found the corresponding colors and made her way to the Candy Castle with a Gum drop smile, life is good.
Fast forward to the following evening (last night), Maddie sets up the board, she is a "big girl" and can do it herself, which means I can't "fix" the game. (oh crap!) We begin with smiles, as Maddie is in the lead, she is in total control. She pulls a card and yells, "Two Blue". I pull and card and she screams, "One yellow".
We are three quarters of the way up the board when she draws a pink candy cane card and has to go back. I draw the peanut card and go back, but I'm still in the lead and Maddie is getting crabby. "Your cheating", she claims with a pout. We continue to play, her color pronouncements take a turn from glee to glum .
I draw a card, show it to her for the color announcement,
"Two friggin' reds" she moans.
I try really hard to not to laugh.
I look at Patrick-- he is barely suppressing his own laughter.
Do I correct her? Do I let it go?
I bust out laughing, Patrick laughs and Maddie looks forlorn.
"It's not fair, you're cheating!" she cries.
I guess I should be happy that she didn't actually say the "F" word.
10 comments:
Oh, yes, cause I don't know if your readers -who don't comment-can handle that out of the mouth of an almost four year old!
And just so you know-she is completely normal. Games were pretty much temper tantrum catalyst for a long time with my oldest two. Even still, there are nights . . .
Oh, I was laughing out loud...
My boys have taught my daughter the phrase "this SUCKS!" Charming...no?
LOL!
pssst - if you check the rules sheet - little players are allowed to skip the picture cards that take them back too far :)
it's all about family togetherness, right???
I'm so glad to know I'm not the only mom who sets up the cards! Whew!!!!
We had a very similar meltdown the other day over the game. DD hates it when I win.
You stack the deck? You are so much nicer than I am! lol
My daughter was the same way, and got better over time. We just had to repeat the "winning isn't everything" speech a couple times.
I love that she didn't even get that the fact that she described it as two "friggin" reds was the funny part!
I am laughing my butt off, both at her "two friggin' reds" and the fact that she is one competitive cookie!!
I haven't thought about Candyland in oh, 30 odd years or so! I remember how frustrated my younger brother used to get during family board games... until he learned how to cheat and do things like steal $500 from the bank during Monopoly!
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