Despite a long list of things I need to do today, I found myself ditching responsibility and starting a game of Euro Rails with my teenage son. Ordinarily this would mean a three-hour stretch of fun and strategy, but the gloomy weather saturated his attitude and his mood turned decidedly sour after a costly screwup.
One of the primary tasks in the game is planning a course based on available funds. The last couple of times we’ve played he set out on a course of action only to discover too late that he wasn’t able to finish. And despite my warning before we began today, it happened again. He got petulant, whined about changing the rules to rescue him, refused to look at alternate ways out of the mess, and finally just quit. Which would have been okay, but he spent the next fifteen minutes justifying himself – and I had no interest in hearing it. So I excused myself and tried to pick my own spirits up.
About fifteen minutes after his storm blew over, I had the Ward Cleaver opportunity with him. He had just about made up his mind that it was the game itself that caused the problem, but I reminded him that he was in foul spirits already and that the reason we almost always pick that game (or one like it) is because we usually enjoy playing it. I tried to show him how if he can spot his mood earlier next time, he might be able to avoid situations that will ultimately cause him grief.
I don’t know how much of the “teachable moment” talks get through. But it’s the kind of thing a parent has to say, on the longshot chance that something will stick. For as much as I remember of my own childhood (a lot), I don’t remember very many meaningful tv sitcom family lectures from my folks. Mostly I just remember that like most of my friends, we were terrified of “getting in trouble”, and would behave ourselves a great deal of the time because of it. I don’t think a lot of families have that dynamic anymore. Which explains quite a lot.
I mentioned the weather earlier in this post – it snowed today, which is odd because it’s the second time this week. Ordinarily we are lucky to see snow once a year. And it was the thick, fat slushy kind of snow that makes you feel like your inside a snowglobe. I haven’t seen a prettier snowfall in over a decade, so it was nice to watch it for awhile.
Saturday January 19, 2008 – 05:20pm (EST)
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