Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Nativity Bingo

Grandma Vicki sent a Christmas package that included some Christmas books, crafts, and a game along with their Christmas gifts. I decided to play the game with the kidlets. It was Nativity Bingo. The game started out well. Jake, Viva and Bentley all enjoyed it. They each had a win, I think. Viva didn't pay as close attention to her card as the boys, so she was inclined to miss her bingos, but she didn't care, so no biggie. After a few games she wandered off, but the boys still wanted to play.

Jake started winning every game. Bentley even had two cards to Jake's one, but still Jake won. Bentley started getting upset at his lack of wins. Jake started bragging about his wins: "I'm really good at this game." I tried to downplay Jake's victories by telling the boys that Jake had a lucky card.

Big mistake on my part. Bentley wanted Jake's card. Jake did not want to share. I tried to talk Jake into giving Bentley a turn with it. (What was I thinking? Do I really believe in lucky cards?!) Hands on violence was seconds away when I intervened. I told the boys to go put on their pjs and they could play a couple more rounds.

When they came back down I told them I'd shuffled the cards. Bentley was devastated. He wanted that lucky card. Jake was devastated. He wanted HIS lucky card. My second mistake. The boys were so upset it was comical. Sometimes when the kids start losing it over something trivial (to us adults), it's hard not to laugh at the absurdity. I didn't, but I wanted to.

I waited a few more days and brought the game out again. We had a good time without any trauma. No more talk of lucky cards.

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