When I play games with the kids, I play as I normally would (that is, I don't throw the game*), but I do help them at the same time. For instance, I won't not Sorry! my own kid, but I'll make sure s/he sees an opportunity to Sorry! me right back. Likewise for mancala, Battleship, and so on. So, then, what to do for Pretty Pretty Princess? Well, I've discovered a few strategic guidelines even for that seemingly luck-governed game. First off, there are two squares each for the necklace, bracelet, ring, and crown, but also only two squares for a single earring (and you need a pair), so earrings are the hardest thing to get. That means you should always take an earring when you land on "Take any piece" and you should never give up an earring when you land on "Put any piece back." The flip side of that is the crown, which everyone's fighting over, so you should never take it for "Take any piece" and you should always give it up for "Put any piece back." A game of luck? I don't think so, my friends.
*The huge exception is war, which Julie would play all night and all day if I agreed, so I do throw those games as quickly as possible. Although lately she's taken to setting up the deck ahead of time and carefully choosing which cards to play based on which cards I play, so my work is done.
Oh, man. I love war, too. Maybe you could send your daughter over to my house to play? I promise I'm not a creepy internet stalker.
I thought you might enjoy knowing that I found your site after Googling "toilet blog" (for this entry on my site: http://50books.blogspot.com/2006/02/web-toilet-blog.html). Do you get a lot of visitors this way?
At any rate, I love your writing. I'll definitely be back.
Posted by: Doppelganger | February 01, 2006 at 03:30 AM