I played monopoly with John today.
He had waited all day and we finally got to it after I had done all the things that "have to be done" in my average day, and he had finished school.
I was rather tired but we set everything up in the school room, got the other two boys interested in something and started our game. John just loves the whole concept, and to him it is just a kick! I would expect him to take things more personally, being almost nine and starting to become more emotional, but he has a great attitude.
Well, it wasn't pretty. I started buying everything I landed on and John was staying in a more conservative "cash position". At some point in the middle of the game he started to realize why owning large amounts of property and charging ridiculous rents, trumps saving and hoping to cash in on the "free parking" block. He was great though, he kept laughing and cracking jokes about how poor he was. He kept saying "I'll bet your really happy with all that money." To which I could sagely reply,"Well, money doesn't buy happiness son." I could have said that, but I was too busy trying to figure out if I could afford to put a hotel on Marvin Gardens and still buy the one orphaned property that was left, if I happened to land on it. So John learned some very valuable life lessons today. The most important being that Monopoly can be fun, if you play with your six-year-old brother.
Seriously though, I am very impressed with the way he sees things. He has a lot of forsight and he is amazingly patient with his mother. This will be very important in the future I am sure.
I have so much respect for the way he thinks, he's a really bright kid. I am really becoming more and more impressed with the heart behind the brain! I just love watching these guys grow!
