Yahtzee
He plays like he lives. Like a 12 1/2 year old boy. Which makes me smile.
LM has always been mature for his age. His vocabulary has always exceeded that of his peers and he can often come across as pretentious. As an only child, and one of divorce, he's had more responsibilities, more expectations, more maturity required of him. And for that, I blame myself.
I saw it in his dad years ago, a man who lost a childhood and I never wanted that to happen to my own. I wouldn't say LM didn't have the opportunities to be a child, just that his environment and his abilities have pushed him into a corner where he's often more comfortable with adults than with peers.
But then we play Yahtzee.
And he leaves his common sense at the door. He rolls three sixes but will pick up the lone deuce and go for two's. He will try for an inside large straight with one roll left and genuinely act surprised when he doesn't roll the three. He never has a back up plan and more often than not will cross something off his list rather than take a one on his ones or even fill in his Chance. For all his giftedness, I tease, he can't play Yahtzee worth a darn.
He knows all of this. If I choke on my milk while I watch him throw away a small straight, he'll just laugh and say, "oops!" It doesn't bother him in the least that we don't play at all alike; my strategy formed from my dad, LM's formed from...well...nothing I can figure out. He has no plan, no back up plan, no in case none of this works out plan. He just rolls the dice and lives with the consequences.
He plays the game like a child.
And THAT is what I love most.
LM has always been mature for his age. His vocabulary has always exceeded that of his peers and he can often come across as pretentious. As an only child, and one of divorce, he's had more responsibilities, more expectations, more maturity required of him. And for that, I blame myself.
I saw it in his dad years ago, a man who lost a childhood and I never wanted that to happen to my own. I wouldn't say LM didn't have the opportunities to be a child, just that his environment and his abilities have pushed him into a corner where he's often more comfortable with adults than with peers.
But then we play Yahtzee.
And he leaves his common sense at the door. He rolls three sixes but will pick up the lone deuce and go for two's. He will try for an inside large straight with one roll left and genuinely act surprised when he doesn't roll the three. He never has a back up plan and more often than not will cross something off his list rather than take a one on his ones or even fill in his Chance. For all his giftedness, I tease, he can't play Yahtzee worth a darn.
He knows all of this. If I choke on my milk while I watch him throw away a small straight, he'll just laugh and say, "oops!" It doesn't bother him in the least that we don't play at all alike; my strategy formed from my dad, LM's formed from...well...nothing I can figure out. He has no plan, no back up plan, no in case none of this works out plan. He just rolls the dice and lives with the consequences.
He plays the game like a child.
And THAT is what I love most.
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