Mom and I have been playing board games, lately...
...and it's been an interesting enterprise. Today is our third day (not in a row) of playing. Although Yahtzee is primarily a game of chance her problem with it has been remembering enough about scoring combinations to make smart decisions on what to keep and what to roll again and remembering to check on what she has versus what she needs. Today it went much more smoothly than our previous two sessions. She always starts out as though she has never played but each time we've played she's been in need of less and less coaching. Today, during our second round, I started to coach her on how to use a roll and she playfully snapped at me, "Don't help me, how do I know you're not trying to make me lose?!?"
    Scrabble has been the real surprise, though. With each of the three games we've played her score has improved by more than a few tens of points. She hasn't beat me yet, which she used to do regularly, but she's getting close. For all three games I've allowed her to use the dictionary before putting down a word. I figured this would help her remember her love of singular words. Today, about three quarters of the way through our game, she asked, "Aren't you supposed to use the dictionary after a play, when you're challenging someone?"
    "Yes," I admitted. "I just thought you could use the help, while you were getting back in the saddle."
    "Next time, let's do it the right way. That means you can't use the dictionary to find words, either."
    Whenever I give her a break I take the same break, and she's beginning to get wise to this.
    I swear, I pay the same amount of attention to her game scores as I do to her blood sugar numbers. As her scores rise I celebrate, both internally and externally, her reviving awareness.
    She just interrupted me here at the computer. "Do you want to go on with what you're doing there or let me beat you at Yahtzee?" she asked.
    I laughed. "I'd rather let you think you're going to beat me at Yahtzee."
    She laughed.
    So, we're headed back to the boards. More later.
- posted by gail rae @ 19:48   email...this post