Flashback: Game People

I groaned when Linda hinted that she’d be asking us about games this week. Games? I thought. We’ve never really been game people. And then I started thinking about it a bit more…

Prompt: Did you play many games when you were growing up? What were they? (Include outside games as well as board & card games.) Who did you generally play with? Did your entire family play games or just the kids? Were there any traditional games your family always played? What were your favorites? …

The earliest memories I have of playing games are of playing Monopoly with my dad, Anna, and Joshua on Sunday afternoons. During those days, we always had scrambled eggs and buttered toast for Sunday lunch. It was quick and easy to prepare after church. Then, once the table was cleared, we’d pull out the Monopoly board. Everyone had their favorite token, of course–but we also each had our favorite properties and favorite railroads. If I recall right, I was most fond of the light blue properties, while Anna liked the green. Maybe Joshua was into the orange ones?? I think everyone fought over Reading Railroad (all of us being young bibliophiles) and maybe over Marvins Gardens as well.

Another game I remember well is Barney and Baby Bop Memory. We older children never had any familiarity with children’s TV shows, but someone had purchased a Baby Bop board book for Grace, so she became a little Barney fan (not that she ever saw it or anything!) Another someone gave her a Barney and Baby Bop Memory game (to add to the traditional set we already owned) for Christmas one year, and we spent hours and hours playing Memory with her. Of course, the preschool Grace always did much better than the teenage older children–who were already starting to lose their powers of instant recall!

We were binge card players, playing one game until we tired of it and then moving on to the next. When I was quite young, we played Kings in the Corner–and always got into arguments over whether “slipping” was allowed (slipping your cards under a pile when there was an empty space versus putting down your cards in that empty space and then moving the pile on top.) A little later, we went crazy over “SPIT” a fast-paced multi-player game of the traditional “solitaire”. Once teenage years came, we became Pitch fans, playing round after round late into the night. And then, I can’t forget falling to sleep in the bottom bunk as Anna and Grace, probably aged 16 and 6, played Rummy in the bunk above.

When we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s, we always played Phase 10 or Skip Bo with Grandma and the cousins. If the group of cousins ranged older, we’d play Phase 10. If the group of cousins ranged younger, we’d play Skip Bo. And then, at some point, Grandma would pull out the Scrabble board on its Lazy Susan and would challenge one of her daughters to a game. They’d gladly agree–and gladly be schooled by my Grandma’s master skills!

Why did I think we weren’t game people, I wonder? I’ve written my requisite 500 words and I still haven’t touched on the boys’ board games. Union Pacific. Risk. Squad Leader. I haven’t mentioned the party games. Outburst. Pictionary. Guesstures. I haven’t mentioned today’s games. Sequence. Pit. Mexican Train. Pinochle. Settlers of Catan. The bean game. I haven’t mentioned the rest of our childrens’ games. Dominoes. Backgammon. Yahtzee. Chutes and Ladders. Gee-I haven’t even mentioned POP-IT!! (Trouble)

And then, of course, there are the outdoor games. Kick the Can in the dark. Softball in the park. Hopscotch (taught by the eight-plus-month pregnant Mom!). Making Hay While the Sun Shines. Tornado. The list goes on and on.

What was that I said about us not being game people?

Sorry, folks.

I lied.

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