Game Over

Good Monday morning!  Can you believe its the middle of August already?

We had a lovely, quiet weekend, albeit with some minor disappointments, booboos and battles.

My plans to take the girls to Snakes and Lattes for a fun afternoon of board games was a total flop.  Little did we know that on Saturdays, particularly rainy Saturdays, there is generally a minimum 2 hour wait list...and they don't take reservations. 

I ended up with 2 very sulky children trying to find something to do in the pouring rain.  There isn't much of interest to them in that area though, and Adam took the car to his office, so we were on foot.  A trip to the dollar store so Little A could buy sugarless gum with her allowance money ended with a major hissy fit because they didn't have the kind she wanted.  A trip to a second-hand bookstore ended with Little A getting 2 books and Big A sulking because she didn't want any books...she wanted to play games! 

We were near the JCC where they love to swim, but we didn't have our bathing suits.  In the end, we just got a snack at the JCC café and then took the subway home.  Universe 1, Mom 0.  I definitely didn't win any points with the girls that day!

On Sunday after my spinning class, Adam was playing Monopoly with the girls.  Little A, who is uber-competitive, stood up on her chair - probably to gloat about the fact that she was winning - when she lost her balance, fell, and smacked her chin full force on the table.  Adam yelled louder than she did because he thought she was going to be seriously hurt.  Luckily she wasn't sticking her tongue out at the time, and she just got some bruising on her neck and chin. 

At the very least I hope she's learned a lesson.  We are always telling her to sit on her bum, that chairs are for sitting on, but she is not very good at listening, particularly when it comes to her physical safety.  Clearly she is trying to send both Adam and I to an early grave!

In other game news, Big A, who is a member of her school's chess club, decided to try and teach Little A to play yesterday.  It was very sweet to listen to the interaction, particularly when Little A, as per usual, began getting upset when she was losing, so Big A manipulated things so that Little A won in the end.  Big A is pretty good about losing, but Little A, man, she is a sore loser and an obnoxious winner.  We're going to have to work on that...

Truthfully, its kind of bizarre how scared most of us are of failure...myself included.  It is often the fear of failure that holds us back from so many things.  That being said, sometimes we also fear success, and that too can keep us stagnant.  What would you do if you could let go of your fears?