I grew up with my grandparents.

They were older. Not the type of parents that run with you in the park or play frisbee. They were old school. The type that told me to play in my room while they did adult things. But they made up for it with love and attention that most children can only dream off.

We spend time together in the evenings and played lots of board games and chess. My grandpa was brilliant, my grandma… Well let’s just say the woman has a heart of gold. And luck with cards.

I must have been about my son’s age when they bought me a memory game. It had 50 pairs, they were made of hard plastic and came in a pretty blue box. The images were graphic design like and the other side was just plain white. My grandma and I played it almost every day. I always won. That was probably one of the reasons they thought I was a genius. Which I might be. But the reason I always won was because I cheated. Kind of. See the design that was printed on the squares was very colorful. And as they were printing them, tiny little specks of paint splattered here and there. I memorized the ones that had a splash of purple, a green dot or a silver line going across it. They were so hard to see but I would scan the squares as we laid them face down and knew where at least five pairs were. The rest was easy. I am sure children have better memory then women eligible for a free senior’s bus pass.

I never really came clean about that. As years went by I started winning chess games with grandpa, card games with them both and Risk. On my own merit. The funny thing is that even as an adult when visiting them, grandma would pull out the memory game and I would remember the splash of purple, green dot and the silver line. Perhaps I have good memory after all.

The other day Little J asked if I wanted to play Go fish. He laid all the carton fish down, set up a purple boat for me, a green one for Bruce the Shark, Orange one for Simmy Sim and blue one for him. He took turns for him and his imaginary friend and I helped the stuffed shark and fished for my own win. Our glass dinning table is by no means small, but Simmy Sim is rather clumsy it seems and he kept knocking the fish down, which Little J was kind enough to pick up from the floor. From under the table. Glass table. See through glass table…

My 4 year old won the game. A few times in a row. He might be a genius. Trust me, it takes one to know one.

Bruce the Shark trying hard not to eat the fish. Photo is from my Instagram.