Board Game Bum

We spent a lot of time agonizing over what presents to get Sava for his third birthday a month ago, and eventually settled on board games. We have way too many toys in the house already, and he is a kid who needs--for whatever reason--constant engagement with adults. So, we figured that something that we can play together would be better than yet another car or truck. The board games have been a huge success. His favorite seems to be "Snail's Pace Race," in which several adorable snails of different colors race on a pretty lawn to get from point A to point B. It's a very simple concept, beautifully done, and it is not based on competition, which suits Sava's temperament well. For the first few days of having it, he insisted on the game "sleeping" in his room, and would put each snail "to bed" in the game box with the greatest care; he then would wake up demanding to play it before the sleep had even rubbed off from his eyes. He also loves "Cariboo" and "Hi-Ho-Cherry-O," though the latter can be frustrating since it often takes way longer than anyone--kid or adult--should be forced to play. Yet another one that is beuatifully done--and German, like the snails--is Kissen Klau ("Pillow Pincher"), but Sava has yet to warm up to it completely; it involves several sleeping elves, who need pillows to cover them (why not blankets? beats me) that another elf--the "pincher"--keeps stealing; the goal is to cover all of the elves.

Dad got some board games for his birthday as well, after a visit by some friends who play a lot of board games, and who introduced us to one called "Carcassone." It's all about medieval towns and castles, and I enjoyed playing it a good deal, even though competition in those sorts of things has never thrilled me. We also got a giant deluxe Scrabble.