Losing at Monopoly a Big Win

We played Monopoly this weekend. It was not the first time we played, but it was the first time we played all the way to the end.

With our son’s love of numbers, it is no surprise that there are elements of the game that he really enjoys. He gets excited when we distribute the money at the beginning, and also likes the buying of the different-colored property.

But, until now, his interest was not sustained for very long. A game would last just to the point where we would get to the good part where we could start building houses. At that point, Kai would say, “all done” and the game would end.

This weekend was different. When we got to the good part, we kept playing. We didn’t just get to build houses, we built hotels. And, for the first time, we got to the part where we had to mortgage our own property to pay for the large rent that was due. Kai was very excited to find out about mortgaging. He thought it was hilariously funny to have to mortgage his property and kept on wanting to do it even when he had enough money to pay the rent.

The highlight of the game for him came when he landed on Boardwalk, where I had built a hotel, and he had to come up with $2000, which is huge in Monopoly money. He laughed and laughed as he mortgaged property after property, adding up how much money he had and how much he still owed. When he had mortgaged the last of his property and fell just short of paying off the debt, he joyously yelled that he was bankrupt and celebrated as if he had been the big winner.

He will have to learn a thing or two before he can become a financier, or an accountant or a real estate developer. But, with our first completed game of Monopoly, we see his increased attention span and, with that, yes, Kai actually was the big winner.