I will admit that I am a competitive person at heart. I try not to be, but its just in my nature. I am generally upset when I lose and I have a horrible tendency to gloat when I win. This is especially true when I am playing board and card games that involve no real skill on my part. As a child I was uncommonly lucky when playing a favorite family game called Aggravation. I was also particularly ruthless in my competitive nature when playing this game, which involves being able to send someone's piece pack to the start if you land on the same spot. My family HATED playing with me. Somehow I would convince them to do it anyhow, and then I would proceed to crush them mercilessly every chance I got. I even coined myself "Doctor Death" as I would pass up a chance to send my last man home, and instead would go around the board again just to chase down every one of their men I could and send them back to the start. I think that I could have been described as evil in some ways.
Now that I am grown up, I have to be nicer. I do admit, and my poor mother can attest, that I am still competitive. She and I play email Upwords and I have a hard time with her winning. To my credit, I don't gloat over my wins (outwardly) the way I used to. I think that she still feels that I am too competitive, and I am sometimes surprised that she continues to play against me.
I don't play board games as much as I used to. D and I occasionally play a round of yahtzee, or millebornes and I always get upset that he wins more than I do. He enjoys my upset in a way I think, because he is about the least competitive person I know, and doesn't get upset when he loses. It amuses him to see my reactions to losing.
I also have to set a good example for my children. I honestly think that competitiveness is not only a learned skill. Some of my children are highly competitive, and have been from a very early age. I don't gloat when I win a board game played as a family, because I don't want them to learn such bad habits. To be honest, now that I am a Mom I lose much more often than I win, and I don't even have to let them win, they just do (to my own upset). I am careful when playing a game with certain of my sons, not to get on their bad sides. One of them in particular takes it very seriously if I jump one of his players, and boy can he throw a fit. I guess I can't wait for them to be old enough to understand that its just a game and they don't have to freak out if they are losing. (My husband would probably say that I still need to learn that lesson myself.)
Friday night we attended a western themed dinner at our church. During the dinner they had various activities going, including some games for the kids. Sack races caused a competitive streak to come out. After the sack races, the lady in charge brought out some pennies and placed them on the floor. The object of this race was to push the penny all the way across the room and over the finish line, with your nose. The room they were playing games in was carpeted. Most of the little kids couldn't quite get the hang of pushing their pennies. Son age 8, however, has a bit of a competitive streak when it comes to racing. He started right off with an army crawl, his nose to the ground, and he quickly passed every competitor and left them in the dust. I admit that I felt a small thrill of pride at his skill and persistence, until he stood up. He had a huge carpet burn all down his nose. It started to hurt shortly after that, and as I type this two days later, he still has a big scab on his nose. I would like to think that he might have learned a valuable lesson about being competitive, but I think that all he learned is not to rub your nose on carpet, even if it IS to win a race. Wouldn't it be nice if the next time he was faced with a competetive situation he could say "Hey-its no skin off my nose if I lose!"
Now that I am grown up, I have to be nicer. I do admit, and my poor mother can attest, that I am still competitive. She and I play email Upwords and I have a hard time with her winning. To my credit, I don't gloat over my wins (outwardly) the way I used to. I think that she still feels that I am too competitive, and I am sometimes surprised that she continues to play against me.
I don't play board games as much as I used to. D and I occasionally play a round of yahtzee, or millebornes and I always get upset that he wins more than I do. He enjoys my upset in a way I think, because he is about the least competitive person I know, and doesn't get upset when he loses. It amuses him to see my reactions to losing.
I also have to set a good example for my children. I honestly think that competitiveness is not only a learned skill. Some of my children are highly competitive, and have been from a very early age. I don't gloat when I win a board game played as a family, because I don't want them to learn such bad habits. To be honest, now that I am a Mom I lose much more often than I win, and I don't even have to let them win, they just do (to my own upset). I am careful when playing a game with certain of my sons, not to get on their bad sides. One of them in particular takes it very seriously if I jump one of his players, and boy can he throw a fit. I guess I can't wait for them to be old enough to understand that its just a game and they don't have to freak out if they are losing. (My husband would probably say that I still need to learn that lesson myself.)
Friday night we attended a western themed dinner at our church. During the dinner they had various activities going, including some games for the kids. Sack races caused a competitive streak to come out. After the sack races, the lady in charge brought out some pennies and placed them on the floor. The object of this race was to push the penny all the way across the room and over the finish line, with your nose. The room they were playing games in was carpeted. Most of the little kids couldn't quite get the hang of pushing their pennies. Son age 8, however, has a bit of a competitive streak when it comes to racing. He started right off with an army crawl, his nose to the ground, and he quickly passed every competitor and left them in the dust. I admit that I felt a small thrill of pride at his skill and persistence, until he stood up. He had a huge carpet burn all down his nose. It started to hurt shortly after that, and as I type this two days later, he still has a big scab on his nose. I would like to think that he might have learned a valuable lesson about being competitive, but I think that all he learned is not to rub your nose on carpet, even if it IS to win a race. Wouldn't it be nice if the next time he was faced with a competetive situation he could say "Hey-its no skin off my nose if I lose!"
1 comment:
A hard part of being a mommy means taking it easy on my girls when I play Candyland or any other games. I get frustrated because they don't play by the rules and then sometimes I have to let them win and it drives me nuts! I want to play and I want to win!!
Heidi
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