First I would like to take a minute to wish everyone a HAPPY EASTER. The sun is shining what could be better for a family holiday
? Family can be a great thing, but there are those times when not so much. I was thinking earlier about something that happened when I was 7 years old.
I had wanted a game called HANDS DOWN. It was played with cards and this thing you hit a prattle on and it would flip down your number in the center of the game if you were the last person down you had to draw a card form the other player hand. The player with no cards at the end of the game won. It had this thing called a sad joker in the cards and if you were caught with that in the end of the game you lost.
I loved this game I first played it at school the year before. I wanted it so much, but we were poor so it took me a year to save enough pennies to get it. I got it for Christmas the next year. I was so happy in those days we only got one toy usually and all our other presents were clothes. I was like that kid in A CHRISTMAS STORY. You all remember how much he wanted the bee bee gun, and how happy he was when hr got it? That was me that Christmas, but my joy was short lived. I had not even had the game a week when my little brother who was 4 years younger then me wanted to play. He could not even count yet and had no business playing that game, but mom made me play it with him. Never failed every time he got that sad joker in his hands he did not even wait till the game was over to see if he still had it he crumpled every card in his hands at that time. I cried and begged mom to not make me play with him cause he was ruining my game, but it was not good mom thought she was teaching me to share. However by her not correcting my brother for destroying my game she was really teaching him he could get away with tearing up someone else things and have to pay no price for it. In less then a week he had every card in that game wrinkled and bent and looking old and bad. It broke my heart I wanted that game so much and she allowed him to ruin it. PARENTS SHOULD NEVER FORCE A CHILD TO ALLOW A YOUNGER CHILD TO DISTROY AN OLDER CHILDS TOY.
It did not take me long to figure out a way to keep him from ruining my things. Anything I really loved I never played with around him again. Even to this day if I really like something I own or that is given to me you may never see it again. If I kept my best toys put away and did not play with them myself mom could not force me to allow him to play with them. I figured out just recently I still do that things I value I store away like a squirrel getting ready for winter. If it is not played with it will remain nice looking. This prevents people from ruining things you love.
