Game Closet: Go Away Monster!

There are a lot of "experience it again for the first time" moments that I've had lately as the Mu is turning the corner and headed towards 3 years old.  In addition to him springing a Disney consciousness, and able to talk with me about Peter Pan, Mowgli, Beauty & the Beast, and (personal favorite) Aladdin, he's also able to tell me that he loves Chewbacca and Yoda - though he has no idea who they are or why.

Now board games have become a part of our regular play, and it all started with Gamewright's "Go Away Monster," quite possibly the best early, early-childhood game out there.  

The game is simple (as it should be): up to 4 players, each with their own board pick tiles out of a bag in order to decorate their room; if they draw a tile with a monster on it, they ceremoniously yell "Go Away Monster!" and throw it back in the box (or, if you are playing with a rowdy 2-year old, across the room, into the fireplace, out the window, etc.).  If players draw a tile for an object they already have, they are supposed to share it with another player who doesn't have that object.  The first person to complete their board is the winner.

Toddler Meets Xbox

I came home from work yesterday like any other day.  As I was helping Lady Rad pull dinner together by entertaining the Mu and Q, it was a good 20 minutes in the family room before I turned around and looked at our media rack - only to find the DVD tray of my Xbox open and askew.  Actually, "askew" might be a generous term.  Another term would be "looks like it was used as a chin-up bar."

The component that does almost as much heavy lifting in our home as our TV is now out of commission - which also means that DVD watching, game playing, and professional reviewing is down until I can get it repaired - hopefully without having to resort to purchasing a new box.

Here's the thing: the Xbox Slim is great, and normally the capacitive buttons I would welcome, except with a Toddler in the house... As Lady Rad reminds me "the flood waters of disaster continue to rise" but there's only so much higher I can place things before I am resigned to just living in the garage!