Learning Losing Graciously

Libby has taken to board games. I was never a fan, but Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders don't require a whole lot of thinking and Libby's enthusiasm is contagious. The problem is that she hasn't won a round of......well, anything. I've won a few, and Peyton cleans house and mops the floor with the rest of us regularly. Which is weird. She's two. Make no mistake, the games we're playing involve little (or no) strategy, so we're all at the mercy of the spinner or the cards we draw.

Today I had a few exchanges at Target (and some Valentine M & Ms to buy), so I bought Chutes and Ladders while we were there. We were meeting Shane for lunch (furlough day for me) and we opened the game and played at the restaurant while we waited for our food to arrive. By the way, did I mention how fun it is to have kids of an age where I can take them to lunch and entertain them with a board game? Not to mention that everyone eats from the menu and no one gets there meals from any part of my anatomy. I know it's been a while since I breastfed anyone and I'm so glad I did. But it never hurts to reiterate how wonderful it is when your children feed themselves solids.

Where was I?

We played the game and put it away when our food came. When we got home Libby wanted to finish the game before naps and I'd told her that we would. Peyton had long lost interest, so it was just Libby and me.

I was stoked to win quickly, which meant earlier naps for all of us, but I misjudged the devastation my win would bring Libby. She dissolved instantly into a puddle of tears and rage shouting things like, "I never get to win!" and "Peyton always wins!" and "Why don't I ever win?!" Her disappointment was reasonable. Her stomping around and screaming earned her a trip to the rug. Now that I'm thinking about it, thank God we didn't finish the game at the restaurant.

And I remembered why I don't like board games. As a kid, I hated to lose just as much as she did today. And I handled it roughly the same way. The world, in general, doesn't receive us well when we lose. So, at some point I just stopped playing games. Because people like us better when we don't resemble the Tasmanian Devil. Holy tantruming reflection right in front of me. Oh, I love her.

Ironically, after her time out, she wanted to read a Berenstain Bears book about dealing with the disappointment of taking third place instead of first. Gotta love those Berenstains. I'm thinking tomorrow we'll do a puzzle together. That, or I'll take Peyton with me to buy a lottery ticket.