I was asked to watch two of my grandkids while my daughter was out of town and my son-in-law was coaching a third grandchild at his rainy and cold soccer game.
Grandkid sitting is one of the best parts of being a grandfather. I would have loved to watch the kids at Jake’s (The third child’s) game, but the two younger siblings opted for grampie time in the warm dry house. Who could blame them?
I was thrilled for this chance to help my daughter’s family out and bond with two of her kids. I was only going to be there about three hours, but those hours were going to be packed with fun activities!
Noah, a six-year-old, was already involved in an electronic game when I arrived and didn’t want to put it down. Kylie, a four-year-old, took advantage and dragged me to the room where the family games are stored. As usual, she wanted to pull every game out of the cabinet and decide which one to play as we observed them spread out on the floor. As usual, I told her no, explaining that we didn’t want to leave a mess for dad (Or worse yet grampie) to clean up. At her request, I pulled out a game with cardboard pizzas that had complicated rules with people being eliminated and then allowed to come back in. It was clearly written on the box “Ages 8 and up” so I convinced her that we should put that one back. The cabinet was filled with about 25 games, only a few that I had actually played. We took out several more games- one at a time- and even made a move or two on a few of them before Kylie said, “No, this one is too hard.”
I couldn’t help but think of the Goldilocks story with the three bears. But, in our story, we just couldn’t find the game that was “just right.”
Soon Noah appeared in the game room. It seems that despite our confusion and inability to fine a game that was acceptable it sounded, to him, like we were having fun. Despite my experience in child rearing and babysitting, I dared to ask the two young siblings to choose a “squabble free” game they could play without fighting. This may not surprise any of you who have raised children, but they were unable to successfully complete that simple task.
Noah complained that the games Kylie chose took too long to play or were boring. Kylie complained that the games Noah chose was “icky and stinky!” After a few more minutes of negotiations between the two combatting clan members Noah suggested that we play chess. I said no. I explained that chess is very complicated, and it’s only for two people. Noah persisted, telling me that his dad had taught him to play last week. Kylie, at that point, had lost all interest in playing anything; she was having too much fun spinning while sitting on the office chair. So, I said OK.
I have not played chess since I was in school, and I only played with equally chess ignorant opponents- I never learned all of the nuances of the game! But, surely, I would be able to give this young man his second lesson. With the help of the internet, I set the board up and we were ready to go.
The two pictures are compliments of my granddaughter Kylie who “needed” my phone and was smart enough to figure out how to take pictures with it. She took these two while she was perched on my neck. They’re pretty neat arial views aren’t they?
Unfortunately, the pictures don’t show that Noah beat me. they show that he destroyed me! He didn’t need help with the rules! He needed a patsy to bolster his confidence! That little chess shark! How dare he take advantage of his dear old grampie like that!
My son-in-law Jeff walked in with Jake at about the point when the second picture was taken. I told him that his son was destroying me at chess, and he replied, “Yea, he beat me too.”
To make it worse Noah heard us and said, in his defense, “Well grampie, you’ve been playing this game for about a hundred years, you should be able to beat me. I don’t even know all the rules yet!” I cautioned him about the “hundred years old” comment when referring to me, and he quickly replied, “Well! you’re my mom’s dad, and my mom’s old; so, you must be a hundred years old!”
How could I argue with that? I said, “Yes I am. And I should be able to beat you. I demand a rematch the next time I come over!”
Noah accepted the challenge, if you can call it that. I’m just worried he’ll want to play for money!
Thanks for reading to the end. Please comment.
Phil
Noah told me he’s putting $50 on the game next time- just kidding! They are so funny sometimes! I can’t take any credit for his chess shark ways, I don’t know how to play, but I’m glad his dad taught him how to kick butt at it! Thanks for babysitting, they’ll take an easy on you next time.
Thanks, it was my pleasure!