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My children periodically invent games for competition. The other day, Zeke wanted to play a game using his bucket of various super balls, ping pong balls, and nerf balls. So, the object of the game became to divide up the balls and attempt to roll them under the small table in the sun room. Whoever had the most under the table when all were rolled was the winner. The obstacles of the game were the chairs, table legs, and Patches, who sat under the table and periodically swatted the balls away. Having observed the creation of all the different games, Zeke has decided to invent a few himself. Today, Josiah was the unwilling participant in a game that Zeke named Verja. In it, you must spin a crayon and the crayon that spins the longest is awarded “points and stars”. As the points are awarded, they increase by whatever amounts Zeke can think up: “a million two thousand eight hundred and forty”, “million one hundred seven zero eight two zero eight”, “eight O two zero three hundred forty one”. Josiah would respond with a higher number than Zeke and would occasionally declare “Infinity”. Zeke always came up with another number that he felt bested infinity. Once Zeke spun his crayon and it stopped. He proclaimed “I don’t lose,” and spun it again. “I win! You lose!” is his mantra for all games. His favorite real game is animal go fish. At the end of play, both players count their cards. When he played with his cousin Jake, Jake counted the number of pairs instead of total cards. Now Zeke counts the number of pairs. He is not happy if the opposition has more cards then him and he must say “You win. I lose.” He constantly tells me, “I don’t want to lose.” or “I don’t want to be last.” After Verja, Zeke wanted Josiah to play bowling with him. The crayons were set up as pins at the end of the hall. Zeke then gave Josiah the little earth ball which fits in the palm of Josiah’s hand. Zeke chose for himself the big earth ball which is a giant inflated beach ball. If you don’t want Zeke to tell you “I win! You Lose!”, it’s best not to let him set the rules.

Blaze’s current favorite game is “fetch the rope-run away-pass by-let you grab the rope-tug of war.”  Josiah was out playing this game with Blaze when Josiah decided to liven it up with one of Dale’s favorite tricks.  Josiah pretended to throw the rope and then hid it behind his back.  Blaze initially took off, then stopped when he couldn’t see the rope.  Josiah continued to tell Blaze to get it.  Blaze put his nose to the ground, sniffed, walked behind Josiah and sat down.  I laughed.  He’s a clever dog when he wants to be.