Kat, we only throw games on occasion, when it is clear that she's tired and fragile and needs the win.

The rest of the time, we play it straight.

I'm asking because a couple of years ago a friend was playing Risk with his family and everyone was going easy on Parker who was 8, I think. But when Parker went after his mom, she fought back and decimated him.

I used to beat mac at things on a regular basis, but I have learned that how I play depends on what we are playing. In games like connect 4 and sorry and uno, I play regular, but not pushing to win - in anything new I have to let him get his feet for a while and let him win until he feels comfortable with the game (also in learning a new game we have to have him learn with someone else or play with 304 people, he will never transition to being ok with losing in just a me vs. him situation so far)- in imagination play, like we are battling, he has to win every. single. time. or he breaks down.

Maybe it depends on the game. Games of chance with little strategy (like Chutes and Ladders) it probably doesn't matter. But with Risk, Chess, Go or word games, it might be trickier.

Plus, some people freak out when they see the natural result of predator/prey interactions.

Yeah. But they should just learn to cope.

"Mommy, what is that bird doing to that seagull?"

"Well, sometimes when a falcon loves a seagull very much, the falcon will grab the seagull with its claws and use its beak to rip the seagull's neck apart. That way the seagull will hold still while the falcon eats it. Because they love each other."

Maybe it's a good thing I don't have kids of my own.

One of the programs we run, with state funding we are still hoping for!, is a refresher course for people with RN's who haven't worked in a long time. There is a nursing shortage, but if you have not worked for 5 or more years, people will not hire you-- they would rather have no one (which I think is weird). So we do a re-training for those who stayed home to raise a family or took other jobs.

It depends on the game for me and the number of wins. Less so now that the kids are getting older. Some games I just don't play all out, I don't try to prevent access to double and triple word squares in Scrabble, but I don't overlook words I can use. In Clue I try to ignore hints I get from the kids guesses and just use what I get from regular play. That sort of stuff.

Oh- my mom NEVER let me win anything, and I am a super-competitive game player-- I hate losing! Make of that what you will!

I am sure my parents let us win stuff when we were very young, but my grandmother and great aunts/uncles on my mom's side, they NEVER let us win anything on purpose and we played cards every day over Thanksgiving break. It was brutal games of hearts, canasta, spades.

I think I left all my energy and motivation back there in the Aughts.

This could be a problem.