Interactivity

During the Bean's infant and toddler years, I waited for the day that he would become truly interactive. Cause let's face it at those ages, you don't really play with them as much as watch them play. The Bean would always ask me to play trains. This meant we would sit on opposite sides of the train table. I would push a train around the track to his side until I couldn't reach anymore and he would gladly pick it up and continue it on its journey. But when it came back to me, he would get upset that I was "taking away" his toy.

I've spent more time than I care to admit trying to stay awake while he plays.

But now he's at the age where interactivity is starting. And with that comes Candyland--the most boring game in the history of all board games. It's a game brilliantly designed to be easy enough for a kid who can barely count to play, but hard enough that they cannot play it by themselves. Not only is it dull, but the Bean likes to cheat. He'll pick two cards or skip spaces or dig through the pile for Princess Frostine. He doesn't care about winning, or losing. When he's a space away from the end and the game will finally be over, he'll move his piece back to the beginning because he likes the gumdrop space.

For a while there, we were in the thick of Candyland. Thankfully we seem to be getting out of this phase. For a while the only thing that was really interactive was that game. If you're over 4, Candyland gets old really fast. However, like being thrown up on, I've come to learn that suffering through it is a parental right of passage.

I always want to be enthusiastic about playing with my son, but sometimes turning on the fake excitement is exhausting. This doesn't make me a bad parent, does it?