scrabble
The Bee has developed a taste for Scrabble lately. It’s kind of an obsession, really. She’s challenged me to three games in the past 24 hours. Last night, we played one-on-one, which she found unsatisfying. Tonight, I played against her and her dad.
I’m excited that the Bee likes this game, which was a favorite of mine in childhood. I remember playing my own mother when I was a kid. I’m willing to let her have help from her father, but I’m not willing to dumb down my own play to lose against her, in part because my mother would never do that when playing me.
My mother and her sisters were rabid Scrabble junkies. I told the Bee last night, when she got frustrated with it, that I didn’t beat my mom at Scrabble until I was about 12, and that she should strive to beat me when she’s 11, but not to worry if she can’t do it now.
The pace of a game involving an eight-year-old is slower than I remember from my own eight-year-old days of playing. The rules about when you can build off another word, while obvious to me now, clearly require some internalization.
Like so many things in parenting, one of the things I’ve realized while teaching the Bee the game, is how much patience one of my own parents showed me, long ago.
CamiKaos said,
October 20, 2007 at 10:28 pm
It is so wonderful that you aren’t dumbing your game down. I think that is the only way to do it.
Here’s wishing you many happy years of scrabble with the Bee.
thordora said,
October 21, 2007 at 7:32 am
I’m beginning to understand why my parents never played with me. They had about as much patience for it as I do.
Good for you though. I’m hoping I have the patience.
chichimama said,
October 21, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I too refuse to dumb down my games for the kids. M thinks I am mean. I figure they learn how to play better by watching me :-). I’m looking forward to playing scrabble with the kids too, how fun it sounds!
Procrastamom said,
October 22, 2007 at 7:18 pm
What a coincidence. I just started playing scrabble with Adam a couple of weeks ago too. He saw me playing online and talked me into buying the game one day at our local book store. I try not to dumb it down for him either and he’s scored really well, but hasn’t beat me yet
The only part I find frustrating is his little nine year-old arms keep bumping the board and the letters shift all over the place. I wish I could have found a version that had slots for the letters to sit in.