Growing up, my mom, sister, and I played a lot of games– mostly board games, but we also played cards and dice games, like Gin Rummy and Yahtzee. Another favorite was Monopoly. A lot of times, we’d start playing Monopoly on a Friday evening and not finish until sometime the following week. Of course, we took breaks, but most of our Monopoly games lasted for days and days.
Now that I’m older, I realize that my family didn’t play Monopoly like everyone else (or at least according to the rules). You see, my mom created a few of her own rules– probably to prevent my sister and I from fighting over the game. For instance, she told us if someone purchased two properties and someone else had only bought one, the person with more properties automatically got the final one. (I can definitely see how this would prevent fighting between sisters!) My mom also had the rule if you rolled “cats eyes” (aka “snake eyes”), you’d get one bill of every denomination from the bank. Why not, right? It also prevented us kids from crying about going bankrupt!
It cracks me up that my sister and I believedĀ everything my mom told us. I mean, why wouldn’t we believe her? (I’m sure she thought it was pretty funny!) I’m definitely going to tell my kids all sorts of random stuff and see what they believe! š
Breakfast
I went to Body Pump this morning, so Mal made breakfast for us. He whipped up a batch of scrambled eggs with Romano, Parmesan, and Asiago cheese as well as a bit of salt and pepper and then folded them into a wrap. I had a serious craving for eggs (protein) after my workout, so this breakfast definitely hit the spot.
I also enjoyed a glass of S’mores iced coffee with vanilla soymilk.
Taste & Make a Difference
I was recently selected as one of 5 bloggers to partner with Foodbuzz and Almond Breeze to take part in the Almond Breeze: Taste & Make a Difference program, which raises money for five charitable organizations. For my charity of choice, I once again picked Back on My Feet.
On the right-hand side of my blog, there is widget for the Taste & Make a Difference program, which gives you the option to make a difference by telling Almond Breeze how to divide $25,000 between the five charitable organizations. Please vote for Back on My Feet!!! At the end of the program, the percentages will be tallied up and the charities will receive its share of the money. Each time you visit my blog, you are eligible to vote.
Here are the participating bloggers and the charities they’ve chosen:
- EatingRD – Live Strong
- BranAppetit – Blog Away Hunger
- The Healthy Nut – Donate Life America
- Carrots ‘N’ Cake – Back on My Feet
- Katrina Runs – Share our Strength
The Taste & Make a Difference program runs now through August 22nd, so be sure to vote for Back on My Feet every time you visit CNC! Back on My Feet is an amazing organization and every dollar helps their members get back on their feet through running and job training/placement.
Question of the Day
What was your favorite game as a kid? Did you change the rules?
P.S. I am hosting a sweet overnight oats giveaway on Trading Up Downtown!
82 Comments
I had (have) so many! We didn’t get cable TV until I was like 12, so on rainy days all my sister and I did was play board games. “Life” and “Scattergories” were the favs until we discovered Mall Madness. I’ll tell ya– there’s no better way to cultivate a shopping addiction in young girls than to give them a pretend credit card and the goal of amassing a bunch of expensive stuff! š
I LOVED Memory because I could remember more than my parents š
voted for you!
We had monopoly games that lasted for days too. Thought we didn’t have any made up rules! My sister and I loved Mall Madness and Life!!
Haha Mall Madness! Love it! But my favorite was spoons! My family was always viscious with this game! So much fun!
Am I the only one that can’t see the widget to vote?
I love Monopoly! And Uno! And Scattegories! We used to make up rules ALL the time. It’s the best way to play! š
GL in the Taste & Make a Difference program! I will definitely vote for your charity!
I loved board games growing up and still enjoy playing when possible. My favorite was Life or Trouble!
Off to vote…
I prefered the outdoor games No time to sit for me.
When I was younger my Mom would play many games with me! They were not normal games though… one of the games would be “See who can clean there room the fastest”. Well, when I was about 6 or 7 this worked because I was very competitve…. little did I know it was a ploy to have me clean my room. We also played a game called “Who can get ready for school/work the fastest”. I was probably 5… the age that you just start getting yourself ready. We would also having drinking contests “Who can drink there glass of milk the fastest”. Of course, I always won these games… haha… silly mommy.
I loved Monopoly as a kid too. I was also really good at Scrabble. I read a lot. š
I think your mom and my mom would have been conspiring buddies. I still don’t know how or when my mom put out all the presents on Christmas Eve when me and my brother were little. I know for a fact that there were many Christmases that I woke up at 5am having only slept for like two hours. My favorite game growing up was Crazy 8s, and my grandma (my mother’s mother) taught me a completely different way then everyone else played. What is it with the mothers?!
Board games (and games in general) were a staple in my home. I learned to play Canasta early along with Tripoly and all sorts of family games. We had funny rules for Uno and I’m sure my mom taught us nutty things to avoid us fighting.
Hunni has all sorts of crazy ideas that he tells my cousins and they believe him all the time. He loves it.
i loved the game of “life” – i always wanted to be a movie star and have twins!!!
I loved playing Life.. I thought it was the coolest thing and would always suggest that we play it!
I loved playing Pokeno and we used to make our own rules.
Loved Monopoly, Yahtzee, Life, Clue, Candy Land…was just thinking it’d be fun to organize a game night with my friends.
I always had to beg my parents to play Monopoly. They hated playing that one because it always took so long!
That’s great news Tina!! Great way to give back! I loved Monopoly too and still do!
We played the snake eyes monopoly rule also!
My mom and I played so many games when I was a kid. We played backgammon while watching X-Files on FX. So that is a fond memory.
We also played hearts, spit, UNO, Rack-O quite a bit. We are game fiends!
Your mom must have talked to my mom because we played the game with “snake eyes” meaning you got 1 of every bill as well! Also, if you landed on GO! You got double the amount then if you just passed it. Its easy to run out of money in Monopoly so I liked these made up rules! š
haha we had the same snake eye rules! love it.
I used to love Clue and Life… I think we played by the rules but now I am not so sure.
Racko? I forgot about that one, but it was one of my favorites. UNO was good, too. My family was big on games. We had a whole bookshelf full of board/card games. Nowadays, I play dominos and card games with the Boyfriend and his family.
Christine, I never told you anything that wasn’t true!!!
That’s a winner of a breakfast. I love egg burrito’s/wraps.
I worked as a sleep away summer camp counselor and now I’m a high school science teacher and let me tell you the stories I tell the kids! I really want a tee shirt that says “I lie to children for a living” š
I played the snake/cat eyes rule also!
Hi tina! I LOVE the charity back on your feet as I know you do too! I believe it was actually started in my city-the city of brotherly love; PHILLY! Anywhoo on my run this morning I ran down to Penns Landing and saw a group of back on my feet runners. I tied to join them but they werent ready yet. It was so inspiring and great for my motivation. Anyway, I think bomf is great….just great. I am planning on volunteering with them, actually, now that this teacher (me) has her summer free š
I used to love playing Trouble!
Jenn
That’s so funny – but so true – about Monopoly! I think every single family has their own set of rules… I have UVAopoly now, but none of my Aussie friends want to play because it means nothing to them! Boo!
We loved Monopoly! But the favorite was definitely a card game called “Oh Hell!” My grandfather taught all of us (6 cousins) at very young ages. Talk about a family of card sharks!
Hehee, actually it’s the health nut: http://healthnut-em.blogspot.com
Welcome to any new readers! š
just stumbled upon your blog as a recommendation on google reader.
i’m so glad you chose BOMF!! š
I too am from Philly so i’m glad word is getting out there that this org. exists. The CEO of the org. started the non profit off @ 26 or something so quite impressive, I say.
keep up the blogging! <3 it!!