Monopoly

Today (Sept. 24, 2006), Kitkat and her Daddy played Monopoly. It was the first time for both of them. And since it was my first time, I felt that the competitive spirit in me wanted to win. So everytime my piece landed on a lot that I owned, I would buy at least 2 houses, to make her pay much higher rent. I even resorted to borrowing from the bank just to finance the putting up of houses.

Unlike me, Kitkat was not agressive. She only bought one house per lot and enjoyed playing with me. Somehow, I encouraged her to start borrowing from the bank to buy houses, but although she borrowed some money, it was alright for her not to buy some properties just to keep herself liquid.

The first thing I taught her (well, technically, it was the borrowing part that was the first...) was to pay all her debts. Next, it's alright not to win, as long as you're having fun.

As we played, I found myself paying her rent, because she was able to monopolize 2 blocks. She was first to buy lots so I would always land on one of her properties. When I was running out of cash and I had to pay her again, she said, "It's okay Dad, you don't have to pay me." I told her that that is the objective of the game. In real life, she should be a blessing to other people but in the game, I have to pay her.

Kitkat was very sensitive that she would want to make sure I was still enjoying the game. When I paid her two or three consecutive times, she asked if I wanted to end the game. I said I was having fun although I wasn't winning.

In the middle of the game, I got most of the railroads and utilities, and built more houses than Kitkat. When I paid her $70 for rent, she would pay me $100 when it was already her turn. She realized something about economy... that the money just goes around.

We were supposed to end in an hour (10:30am-11:30am) so we could prepare to leave the house and attend the service at Victory, Fort at 3pm. Kit was very conscious about the time but since I was starting to get paid, I said we'll end when it's time to have lunch.

When it was time to end the game, we computed the networth of each player. I was confident that I would win. Somehow, I felt sorry for Kitkat because I got around $3,200. When I checked out her properties, it was more than $4,300! She won even without trying to win. She just wanted to have fun with her dad :)

Many of us want to win in the game of life, thus, treating it like "Monopoly", wherein we want to get everything for ourselves. We ought to learn from this child who just wanted to have fun with someone who matters more to her than the actual game.

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By the way, it's our second time to play chess, Kitkat (right before playing Monopoly). You were great! You knew how to move the pieces and how I would move mine if you place one of yours on a particular block. You've got an analytical mind. Keep it up!