Our home is a house full of laughter and love. However, the second a game or a deck of cards show up all the happiness in the world is sucked into a dark black hole. That might sound dramatic(because it is). But, none the less it is 100% true, and the events I’m going to write about are real family members. Their names will not be changed to protect their identity because they deserve to know the trauma these games have caused.
Scrabble and the Mother InLaw
A couple of weeks ago we visited my inlaws in TX. Over that delightful stay, I got to hear about the current vicious game of Scrabble between Alice(M.I.L) and Amy(S.I.L). I giggled as we all listened to the progress of the game. Then, after two drinks, I had the bright idea that I too wanted to play games online with Alice. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two came when I downloaded Scabble thinking it was going to be fun.
Currently, I find myself in a game a Scrabble where I’m desperately clinging to losing within a hundred points. I’m pretty sure it is going to be a slaughter with a loss of over 100 points. Alice is wicked good at this game. I’m pretty sure that she’s making up words and still getting at least 20 points each time, while I struggle to come up with the word JUG with my tiles. Mistake number three, playing a game like scrabble when you’re a terrible speller.
The worst part about Scrabble is that I already know that Amy(S.I.L), is some kind of kungfu master at the game. I’m not sure what deal she signed with the devil, but it must be much better than the one Alice signed up for.
Note: I will not be playing this game with Amy. Ever.
BINGO and Amy/China
Speaking of the scrabble kungfu master, Amy, she has fulfilled my hatred of Bingo. Putting all the blame on Amy wouldn’t be right as China was mostly to blame for the Christmas Bingo debacle.
Game time comes around, and Bingo appears at the table! Everyone was taking two cards and the dots to cover up their winning numbers. My husband was gleefully spinning the bingo balls around and around like some evil roller coaster control person. Everyone was very excited as there were gifts for winning Bingo.
However, from about the second ball on, we knew something was massively wrong with the game; for instance, the numbers weren’t aligning with the letters. It didn’t become clear until people found out that on one card they had multiples of the same number.
What I know about the Bingo game we were playing was that it was from the Dollar Store. Amy, you know its a store filled with fun, cheap crap that is mostly crap. I bet they could even mess up a regular card deck. Later that night Amy is quoted as saying “well, I guess you really do get what you pay for!” And laughter ensued. I’m pretty sure that this game of bingo went right into the ridiculous white elephant pile for next years winner(loser is more like it).
In conclusion
In this family games are a big thing, and this is where these phrases were born: “never trust a Bofenkamp,” “Never(and I mean ever) trust a Leuthold,” “the Carlson’s are a-ok but don’t forget that one was once a Bofenkamp.”
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Photo by Juanmonino
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