Tuesday, January 6, 2009

We Should Have Read the Warning

Last night for family home evening, we called Ryan's mom for her birthday (Happy Birthday Delsa!) and then Ryan suggested playing a game since we didn't have a lot of time left. He pulled out one of the new games we got for Christmas from Aunt Lisa: "Trouble". She had originally bought it for her family, but then thought our kids would like it so she decided to give it to them. I hadn't played it for a long time, but remembered it was something that would be easy for them to learn.

Well, what started out as an attempt at family bonding ended up in tears (Mason and Katie alternated, depending on who was sending the other's piece back to the start). Ryan and I spent the game being frustrated at their complete lack of being good sports and Andrew's complete lack of being able to leave the pieces alone. We barraged them with helpful reminders like "It's only a game" and "If you guys can't play nicely we're going to bed right now", but somehow that didn't seem to help. Shocking, but true.

After Katie had squeezed out a clutch win, beating Mason by one pop-o-matic pop of the bubble button, Mason lost it (meaning both the game, and all sense of sanity). Katie then picked up the box to the game, and after examining the cover, let us in on why the night had gone so poorly: "It say's right here on the box that 'There's trouble in the bubble!'"
And how.

If only we had read the warning first.

Maybe Aunt Lisa did, and that's why she wisely sent it our way (just kidding Lisa!).

9 comments:

EFN Newsletter said...

I hope it gives you great pleasure that whenever I read your posts I have a good hearty out loud laugh. Lol just doesn't do it justice.

Jordan said...

Oh, boy. Trouble causes trouble in our family too! And, it takes a lot longer than it seems like it will. But in the end, after drying tears and assuaging frustrations, it's actually pretty fun to play with the kids! Congrats on your new baby and say hello to Ryan for me- I sure loved his enthusiasm and his example!

Lisa said...

Trouble is right! That Katie, what a smartie - I love it!

KJA said...

We got the same game and had the SAME problem. It was intense. I'm hoping it gets better and that I can teach them good sportsmanship.

charlesfam said...

Wow. Thanks for the warning. We might avoid that one for a long while to come. Also, your kids are adorable. We need to have another big reunion so we can get all of these cousins together again.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious. Even funnier than Katie getting on the phone to tell Grandma something very important which she forgot but shouldn't have which was "Happy New Year." :) Or Mason sharing his daily calendar and how busy he is and how the only time he might be able to make time for my art book is Thursday afternoon.

Kerri said...

We have a rule about playing games...no crying. It is way too traumatic.

Cori said...

Too funny! You crack me up! Oh, thank you so much for the Christmas card. Your family picture is beautiful!

Angee said...

Thanks for the warning! We get that kind of reaction from our kids (and Rog) just playing Go Fish. We just got your Christmas/New Years card. We loved it. It's more fun getting cards after Christmas anyway!