Once a month, or whenever possible, we go over to Larry Joe’s house for a Game Night. Larry Joe is rather fond of games. He collects them and plays them and talks about them. And he likes to get together with other people who enjoy playing games. Adam loves to play games. So Adam looks forward to the monthly Game Night so he can go over to Larry Joe’s house and play lots of games.
We play all sorts of games on Game Night. Not video games, mind you. These are board games. Card games. Games of thought and strategy and skill and chance and scheming and cooperation and collaboration. Games of laughter and frustration and intensity. Games of passion.
We’ve purchased a few games for ourselves that we found particularly enjoyable. Like Sabatuer. And Dutch Blitz. Cheryl especially enjoys Dutch Blitz. She’s very good at it. This game requires a very fast, multi-tracked brain (unlike mine, which is slow and ponderous and singular of focus).
The kids enjoy it as well. They’ve been playing it whenever they get the chance. Over and over again. Mary’s daily plea has become, “Anyone wanna play Dutch Blitz?” And usually she’s able to find at least one other taker.
Cheryl is still the Master at the game, although Adam's deftness is increasing rapidly. They both have the same ability to track multiple piles of cards at the same time, which is an absolute requirement of the game; and they both have fast reflexes. You don't want to get in the way of their arms as they are flying towards their objective.
Mary will play the game by herself if no one else is willing or able. Like when her sister is too sick (here seen "supervising" from the reclining position). It's good that she practices. She'll need as much skill as she can muster in order to keep up with her highly aggressive elder siblings. So she plays a few rounds before heading off to school in the morning.
