Hubby and I are not allowed to be on the same team for any trivia/obscure knowledge-based game. We always get assigned to opposite teams so we'll cancel each other out. Takes all the fun out of it.

When I played physical sports with Emmett when he was little - mostly handball - I had to rein in my game considerably. But that seemed like a fair handicap. Also, I slowly introduced the basic notions of strategy (such as pulling the other player out of position by going side to side) until he got very good and could beat me straight up.

Most of the board games we played were more about chance than strategy so he had an equal chance of winning. But I would throw games because it was more about the social engagement and learning new stuff. There was no way he could compete with me when he was younger and it was no fun for him to lose all the time.

Now he can beat me at chess pretty regularly.

He was pretty obnoxious about rules interpretation so I did have to institute a rule that I was the only arbiter of rules or we wouldn't play at all.

He's totally okay with losing baseball games, but he hates losing to me at tennis.

JZ is super competitive and can be a bad sport when she loses at board games. She grew up in a cut throat board game family.

I would say my POV with playing games with kids is more about teaching them how to play and making it fun for them. So I'm more like the momma tiger which will mostly kill an antelope and then let the cubs in to finish the kill.

We played some board games when we were kids, but the ones that stand out most in my mind were card games, specifically cribbage (played with Dad usually) and rummy 500 which we would all play. I don't remember ever cheating or having my elders (everyone else at the table) fudge their play for my benefit. If I missed a chance to play my cards against someone else's, I was SOL.

If I was playing Solitaire and cheated and someone caught me, they'd scold me for not playing it right.

ETA: The first time I ever double-skunked Dad at cribbage was a huge milestone for me!

I just set an appointment to call someone at the same time I'm supposed to be meeting with my boss. Oops.

For the most part, we don't let Emeline win. A lot of that has to do with her refusal to actually learn the rules of the game and just wanting to play it until she wins.

I have a friend -- you know, my age and all, NOT 8 -- who won't learn the rules of games and tries to make up her own rules. I refuse to play anything with her. Because, as you know, I am All About Rules.

JZ is super competitive and can be a bad sport when she loses at board games.

I fucking HATE losing, but I try to be a good sport.

I almost always lose at Scrabble, because I don't play strategically (building off of other people's words to get more points, going for the triple word scores, etc). I always mean to, and then I get caught up in how awesome my words are, and then before I know it, I have, like 15 points to my opponent's 150.

This discussion is very interesting to me as I found myself in a game store yesterday deliberating over what to buy for a 6.5-year-old boy that has problems with not winning, so games that are more in the 7-8+ range aren't good choices. In the end, I decided to get something he could play with his 3.5-year-old brother, namely, Don't Break the Ice. It was a big hit.

BTW, if you like Boggle or Scrabble and want something a little less competitive and/or friendly to people of various skill levels, I highly recommended Bananagrams.

My sister and I kinda cancel each other out at Balderdash. I can always tell which definitions are hers, and vice versa, but no one can tell ours apart.

I tend to play that game by aiming to be right, instead of aiming to fool other people, which isn't really the point. Perhaps with the fewer brain cells I have these days I'd change my angle. But I know my sister prides herself on getting obscure words too, even if we're both willing to play a slew of crap in Scrabble we can't even begin to define.

Oh, the argument about qis that we had on Saturday. The woman we were playing with (she was new to us and I think we exasperated her sorely) opined that there is no plural to qi, that there is only one life force, one that we all share. WhatEV. Scrabble don't get all that metaphysical.

My extended family are such disgusting competitors that I went through quite a phase with that. Now, I pull back a lot, and it takes a lot to activate it. But once it's on, it's on. I think it's good I didn't go to law school, cause there's no way in hell I could do that collegial thing where you beat ass in court and then go and have drinks. I'd be too busy looking up "Your mama," in Latin.

JZ is super competitive and can be a bad sport when she loses at board games. She grew up in a cut throat board game family.

I remember being totally surprised by this the first time I played games with her. Not that she was a bad sport (I have seen no evidence of this), but that she was so competitive.

I am like JZ when it comes to board games. I have been banned from games, mostly Trivial Pursuit, for my poor sportedness. We shall not speak of The Dance.