Do Not Pass GO, Do Not Collect $200

One of the side effects of having numerous kids sick for a week and a half, was that we were all here together at home for long periods of time.

I started to get a little shack whacky, I must admit. As did the children.

To dispel some of the boredom, I agreed to something the two eight-year-olds requested:

To play Monopoly.

God forgive me.

OK, well, it wasn't as bad as that. The eight-year-olds, as it turns out, had never actually played Monopoly before. They had played Monopoly Junior ad infinitum however, which is a pretty good version of Monopoly scaled down for younger kids. But they felt that they were beyond that, and were ready for the real thing. (We also own Star Wars Monopoly, my personal favourite, but the traditionalist in me wanted them to learn the game with all the 'real' places and pieces before branching out.)

The first thing we needed to do was recruit the 13-year-old. The Monopoly shark in the family. Which we did. It took a day or so, but we all managed to sit down for a game. I didn't actually sit. I puttered in the kitchen, and played in tandem with the 4-year-old (for the twenty minutes that it held his attention at least... After that I was on my own).

I must say, that playing Monopoly is a pretty nostalgic experience. Meaning, I forgot how much kids argue when playing.

Let me summarize the game:

1) Eight-year-old boy gets Boardwalk.

2) Thirteen-year-old boy gets Park Place.

3) Thirteen-year-old spends the entire game trying to wheedle Boardwalk from his brother, for nothing resembling fair market value.

4) I continuously counsel eight-year-old boy not to take any deal his brother offers him.

5) Other stuff happens.

And of course:

6) Game never ends.

That's about it. Whee! Wasn't that fun?

Well, yes, it *was* a little fun.

And we should *definitely* do it again.

The very next time our whole family gets sick.