Monopoly - Root of all Evil?

I used to think that Dodgeball was the "Root of All Evil". I now would like to add Monopoly to the list. With both games, someone always ends up crying! Ever since we got the new Electronic Banking Edition for Christmas, the boys seem to be playing back to back games on the weekends. This new version of Monopoly is faster to play with larger payouts. Everything is faster... playing, going bankrupt, and even the inevitable fights that breakout. It's like I have my very own set of The Apprentice in my house!

The boys are fascinated with the programmable debit cards. They love to add money to them. My bad little boys tried to add money to their Target gift cards and I tried with my Visa debit card...It doesn't work! Stinking beeping gadget! What good is it other than to annoy me?


The Missing Notebook
Last night my 5th grader was frantically looking for his journal for school. The purple spiral-bound notebook had gone missing a few days earlier and he was one day behind in entry writing for his class.

I helped in the search and found the notebook in my 1st grader's room. Apparently he "borrowed" it to write a new Monopoly rule about being able to collect $2million dollars every time a player passes GO. My 6 year old not only forgot to ask permission from his oldest brother, he also forgot he still had the journal. I wrote a note to the 5th grade teacher to explain.

Flipping Breakfast!
This morning at breakfast as I was glancing over at my 6 year old son, I noticed he was rubbing the side of his nose with his middle finger. As he was slowly stroking this finger on his nose and then tapping his cheek, he seemed to be glancing over at his 9 year old brother across the table to see if he was watching.

Wait a minute! Could this be deliberate? Is he "flipping off" his brother?

As I watched in disbelief, I noticed my baby glance in my direction. I could tell he knew what he was doing.
" Colin!" I called out. " What are you doing with that finger?"

At first he feigned innocence. I wasn't buying it. He asked, " Why? Is that bad? What does it mean?"

I had to leave the room for a moment to gain composure. I wanted to bust out laughing but knew that would not be the proper response.

My husband fielded that one. " It is sign language for a very bad word and it will get you into big trouble if you do it again!"

I re-entered the room and asked where he learned this gesture.

His brothers explained that when playing Monopoly this weekend, Colin kept tapping the board with his middle finger. They told him not to do it, that it was like using a swear-word. I guess he thought he'd test that out at the breakfast table in front of Mom & Dad!

Wait a minute... " Hey! How do you guys know about this?" I inquired of my older two boys.

I guess we need to add Riding the School Bus to "The Evil List"!