Checkmate

Tonight, Laureen and her Mom went to the mall to do some shopping. Brian was on his way to A.C., so Erin and I had the house to ourselves for a few hours. Almost as soon as we were alone, Erin said to me, "Dadoo, I want to play a game."

"What would you like to play?"

"I want to play something new."

"Something new, eh? Well, you've played all of the games that we have," I said to her, when suddenly I remembered a box I had put on a shelf in the garage while organizing out there. "Wait a minute, I think I know where there might be a game or two that you've never played."

Erin squealed with anticipatory delight.

"Oooh! Where Dadoo!? Where where where where where WHERE!?!?!?!?"

I smiled at her enthusiastic reaction.

"Follow me."

"But Dadoo, why are we going downstairs? There aren't any games in the basement, are there?"

"No, Sweetie. But we are not headed to the basement," I said as I opened the back door.

Erin sighed. A long, impatient, slightly exasperated sigh. As I turned to look at her, I caught a glimpse of the tail end of an eye roll.

"Dadoo, there are no games in the yard EITHER!"

I smiled again. "Patience, Erin. We're not going to the yard either."

"Ooooohhhh! Where are we going then?"

"To the garage."

I glanced back at Erin. She stopped dead in her tracks, a look of total disbelief on her face. She glared at me for a second with a look that can only be described as "The Christine".

Erin delivered this next part very slowly and deliberately, as if she were talking to a complete imbecile.

"Dadoo... Don't... you... know... that... there... aren't... any... games... in... the... garage... either?"

"Just come with me, Silly."

Erin paused, as if considering her next move. Then, as if a switch had been flipped in her brain, she smiled and cheerily said, "O.K."

We walked the half dozen paces or so to the garage, and opened the door. I flicked on the light and we made our way to the shelves in the back corner. I stood there for a minute trying to remember which box contained the object of our search.

"See Dadoo... I told you there weren't any games in the garage either."

But at that moment, I remembered which box contained what we had come for. Pulling it down from the shelf and setting it on the floor, I opened the flaps, sneezing twice as the dust hit me in the face.

"Ahhhh. Here it is," I said to Erin.

Erin huddled in close to get a better look. Inside the box was the round, golden tin that contained our Disney Trivia Game. Just below that was a square tin that contained Laur's Simpson's Chess Game. They had been packed up when we left Mount Laurel and hadn't seen the light of day since. Upon seeing them, Erin's face lit up like a halogen bulb.

"Oh BOY!! OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY!!!! Dadoo Dadoo Dadoo I want to play can we play I want to play them right now!!" She was literally jumping up and down and clapping.

"Come on inside and we'll play."

We played the trivia game first... and Erin had fun, but because so many of the questions are from films Erin has not yet seen, it was a real challenge for me to keep that one interesting for her. After quickly bringing that game to an end, I set up the chess board. I figured chess would be way above her head (and obviously, the strategic aspects of it were), but Erin was totally fascinated by the different rules that governed how each piece could move & where they started on the board, and by the fact that, unlike checkers, you did not have to jump over an opponent to claim their piece. The first time she put my king in check, she tentatively whispered "Check". When I told her to say it with conviction, she asked me, "Dadoo, what's cuvikchun?" I said, "Say it loudly and confidently, with feeling." Erin said, "I don't think I want to say it loud." So I said, "OK, soft is good too." Of course, each successive time she put me in check, she did say it a little louder, until she got to the point where every time she put me in check (or even claimed one of my pieces) she did a little dance and sang,

"I'm going to win
I'm going to win
I'm so good at chess
so I'm going to win!"

We played twice, with Erin winning both games (thanks to me coaching her to check mates both times). She has already told me she can't wait to play again, and was so excited about it that she told Laureen about it when she got home from shopping. She told Laur that she won twice. When I said "Tell Mommy what you say when you win," Erin smiled a shy smile and whispered, "Check Mate."