Game time

As one who will usually forgo food, drink, sleep, and probably other things in the pursuit of game, it is likely not surprising that I would encourage Corbin at the earliest possible moment to play with me. I've got some games picked out for him for the next several years already, and at Christmas we tried the first one.

Go Away Monster! is a non-competitive game (though there is a competitive option) that involves a slight degree of shape matching and recognition. The suggested age is 3 and up, so 18 months seemed like a perfectly logical time to try it. The point is to add objects to a bedroom, but if a monster comes out, to tell it to "Go away" and throw it in the monster pit. It's sort of supposed to help children deal with monster fears.

Corbin is not afraid of monsters, and I don't want to have this game make him think they are something that is necessarily scary. I think it will be OK. The first time we played he put a monster in the bedroom.

We played a couple times at the grandparents' in Bend, and he seemed to get the hang of it pretty well. Then, this morning, I told him we should play a bit before breakfast, thinking trucks, or barn, or whatever. He said, "Game! Game! Monser!"

So we played. This time he was much more into it, and really wanted to pull out a monster so he could wave his arms around yelling "Away! Way!" and then put monster in the "pid." He also tried to put the cat picture and the teddy bear in the pit.

We went to go work on breakfast, but he went back to the living room and got the game out again. So we played again. Then he played with Erin after we ate.

I am encouraged by how he plays. He's not always the most patient boy, but he seems to be very willing to wait his turn while playing the game. Maybe when he tries it with Brody and Melissa that won't be the case. But maybe it will. And maybe it will rub off in other situations. We'll see.