Did you have fun?

... the art of hanging out at a breakfast table ...

When someone of the children asks at the end of a game, “Who won?”, Doral Johnson always asks back, “Did you have fun?” If the answer is yes, then he says, “Then you won.”

I think about this lots , since there are some families for whom board games are a way of life. Doral’s family is one. Rebecca’s family is another. I think Mary and Leo’s family like board games and I have been there when the Jarvis family is playing games. David Camps even is the Dungeon Master at a games night at his local library.

Richard’s family is only being introduced to games. Some games explicitly say that the game is for 8 years old and up. That makes Alice sad, that the box will say she is too young to play. Not so nice to have sadness before the box is even opened up.

I have been playing Azul with Michael and Alice. Although Alice is only 6, she seems to have caught on, although she is not competitive like Michael is. To him it matters who wins. To her, it only matters that she played the game.

... snack time and then back to gaming time ...

Today I began to play Uno with the kids and I had to stop them.

I just couldn’t stand cards being dealt by pitching each card across the table until the players all had the requisite number.

So we stopped, divided up the deck and we all practiced dealing small groups of cards in front of us until we had seven in each group.

I was relentless with them. We did it again. And again. Now everyone knows the card dealing protocols. Not that they are going to continue with the practice. I just need to know that they know.

I backed off. There is a thin line between teaching someone how to do something, and making them so that they never want to play again.

This game may be called, Beat the Parents.

What parent would buy a game with that name?

The best part of the game of Uno for me was when it ended. Betty, with her head hanging down, her shoulders slumped, said in a sad voice, “I guess if I had fun, I won.”

Nice. She has the rule articulated, even if it doesn’t feel that good to have had fun, but not to have been declared the super all-time Uno champion.

I was listening on CBC this morning to someone who owns a gaming café.

He was saying how important the social aspect of board gaming is – learning to take turns, learning to cooperate or even to figure out how to learn a set of rules and then execute them.

... whose turn is it next? ...

He was inviting people to come to the board gaming cafes, to try out games, to have people come around and help you when you get stuck instead of having to pull out the rules and re-read them.

 Or even to quit. I think he was right. At least, I am sure I have had more fun at the game, if I have known the rules.

And do I have fun with the kids?

Yes.

So I always win.

Arta