Third Generation

When my mom was young, she spent many a summer day playing Monopoly outside on a blanket on her neighbor's front lawn.  The game would go on for days and days, and I'm pretty sure it was a favorite summer pasttime.  Even now when she talks about playing Monopoly as a kid, there's a softness in her voice that is pure nostalgia.  As much as my mom loved the game as a child, I don't ever remember her joining my siblings and me when we played.  I know she taught us the basic rules of the game, but when I think of my mom's participation in the Monopoly games I played as a kid, I recall that her role was more that of referee, as opposed to actually rolling the dice and buying property.  She did, however, pass along the Monopoly Gene to me.

I loved playing Monopoly so much when I was a kid, I would never let my siblings out of a game once they started playing with me.  I preferred slowly bleeding someone dry, rather than going for the fast kill, thereby prolonging the game.  I actually devised an elaborate set of rules to keep someone (usually a younger brother) in cash long after he should have been allowed to declare bankruptcy and exit the game.  In fact, I pretty much forced them to play until the bank was totally out of cash, at which point I'd give them a few days' respite before begging for another round.

The last time we spent Christmas Day at our house in Oak Park was the year Caleb and Julia got married.  I figured it was the perfect time to unleash Monopoly on the next generation.  Baird and I gave the game to all three kids, and we started our first family game of Monopoly shortly after the wrapping paper was off the box.  We wound up playing all day and into the night, pausing shortly for a quick dinner of roasted duck.

It became clear pretty quickly that all three kids have been blessed with the Monopoly Gene.  Kelsey has inherited my love of slowly bleeding her opponents into bankruptcy.  Erin cited Monopoly as the way she learned to count back change when she applied to help out at the Irving School Store.  Drew's preschool teacher was blown away on the home visit when he recited to her the rent rates of the entire board (including housing and hotel rates).

After being scattered hither and yon for the past week (each kid was in a different state), the underage element of the 5 Ring Circus were all home today.  This third generation of Monopoly players spent the afternoon bonding over the classic game.

Now, who do you think will win this round?