Christian's Into "Trouble"

CHRISTIAN’S INTO “TROUBLE”
This week's offering is something a little more lighthearted.

Roger and I drove to Utah for Thanksgiving of 2001.  Mark and Wendy graciously hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their home.  Aaron and family were there, along with Anne and Chris, and B.J. Salters.  Roger and I arrived at Mark’s on Wednesday so we could help with the preparations and visit with the children.

I liked to play games with Christian, and the game he was the most interested in at this time was “Trouble.”  He thought it was great fun when he got to send one of my men home, and if I looked disappointed he would shrug his shoulders and say, “Well, that’s the way you play the game, Grandma.”

Christian, November 1999

He did not, however, think it was entertaining if I sent one of his men home, and he was not above bending the rules a little to even things out.  To make it seem like he had more men moving around the board, I suggested that he play two colors at once and pop the die and move the men as if he were two different people.  Christian thought that was a great idea and he popped and moved, and popped and moved again with great enjoyment.  He was green and blue.  I was yellow.  One of the red men was missing, so we avoided that color.

TROUBLE

Roger drove home the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but I stayed a few extra days and rode the bus home Tuesday evening.  Late Saturday afternoon I went to Mark’s to watch the three children while he and Wendy did some Christmas shopping.  I brought one of Anne’s maternity jumpers with me that needed to be hemmed shorter.  I wanted to finish it and leave it at Aaron’s where I was spending the night so that Anne could pick it up there in a few days when she was scheduled to babysit Aaron’s girls.  When Christian wanted to play trouble I agreed, but I tried to take a few stitches on the jumper each time he took his two turns.  He could see that my attention was not wholly on the game, so finally he said, “That’s OK, Grandma.  I can pop and move for you.”

So Christian happily popped and moved for three people while I finished hemming the jumper.  I lost, of course.