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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tic-Noughts-Ozees!

Image from here.
P.S. These are not shooter glasses.
But they could be I guess.
Does anyone play Xs & Os anymore? I realized recently that I never taught my kids how to play tic-tac-toe. Whoa. They're teens now. That's pretty neglectful isn't it? I guess stuff was on TV all those years. Oh well. Yet another coffin in my hit the parenting nail on the hole in my head or whatever cliche works here.

Are you thinking, what's the big deal? I know. I know. It's an easy game. Maybe even a tad boring? It might build a few more synapses to play Battleship or even dress-up. (I did play those with my kids.) But considering that kids tend to default to games such as flinging sand at each other when they're unoccupied, it's a safe game and a simple game that can even be played IN the sandbox. I say teach it to your kids.

Why? Well. I wasted an hour researching it and now I'm wasting your time too...Did you know that there are 255,168 tic-tac-toe game combinations? (Please pause here for a moment and wonder about the dude who added this information to Wikipedia; I can so relate to him). It's existed since the first century BC. And it obviously teaches strategy. And social skills. And stuff. But more than any of this, if only I had known what it's called in other countries. Love these:

Asia: Wick Wack Woe!
UK: Noughts and Crosses!
Ireland: Xees and Ozees!

Words always spike my pilot light but yeah, I know I keep having this nagging thought...it's still just too easy. So why do I continue to blather on about this? Recently I was asked to recommend my favourite game. Here's the thought process that ensued:

Is it when my teens tell me half-truths? No.
Is it the passive-aggressive games I am forced to play with people at work sometimes? No.
Is it the way I avoid talking to my wife about my feelings and then grow bitter that she can't read my mind? No.
My favourite, favourite game is actually based on Xs & Os. It's Gobblet! YES.

Sadly though, my teens won't play it with me anymore. Why? Because I MUST WIN!

Sorry but I'm not one of those types of parents who let their kids win. However, please don't assume I am the overly competitive type... *tries to prevent the following conversation from happening in my head: "Yes you are." "No I'm not." "Are so." "Are not."*

Oh peeps, I josh. I'm truly not very competitive. Well maybe with some things. Competitive sports? Meh. Competitive cooking? Maybe. Competitive art show? BRING IT ON! Competitive Gobblet? BARE TEETH & MAKE PRO-WRESTLER FACES AND STRUT AROUND.

See. Like for all of us it just depends. As for the game of GOBBLET? I'm COMPETITIVE squared, multiplied by pi. (I don't really know what that means but I'm trying to say that with this game, I whoop yo ass.)

And finally, this brings me to my point. (Whoa. Must work on summarization skills eh?) Go get Gobblet.

17 comments:

Oilfield Trash said...

Me and my kids still play tic tac toe

Unknown said...

I'm just stabbing in the dark here, but I think you like the game GOBBLET, just spit balling though. It's funny how much we're alike (I know we both say this often), but I'm not competitive about some things at all, but others make me hit the war path like my family's land and livelyhood depended on it. Not sure why that is. I'll have to try Goblet though, never even heard of it.

Vinny C said...

Ahhhh... Sand flinging... Good times.

Gobblet huh? Must admit I've never been introduced to that one. I'll check it out.

Kev D. said...

I think you and I need to play Scrabble given that we both seem to have an obsession with words in general.

Wordfuse words don't count.

Missy said...

Tic Tac Toe has caused many a war in our home! My boys play for blood...

Cheeseboy said...

Oh man, I totally should teach my first graders tick tac toe! I had no idea that it taught them "stuff", along with other "stuff".

Antares Cryptos said...

Memories of last week. I decorate the borders of my notes with them, very competitive, against myself. Good times.

Gobblet? Sounds medieval.

Al Penwasser said...

Wick Wack Woe! I love it.
So, have you taught them how to play "Dots?"

DB Stewart said...

@OT As you should.
@paul Try it.
@VinnyC Better than flinging sand. (At least after a while.)
@KevD I totally agree.
@Missy As they should.
@Cheeseboy Wait until you see the uh, stuff they do.
@AC Get medieval AC.
@Al Tis a great name, eh? And no, but good idea. Do you play SOS?

Antares Cryptos said...

P.S. Is it just me, or has the follower widget just disapparated?

DB Stewart said...

Yes. I noticed that too. It's back now. Blogger...maybe it should be Bugger instead?

Teachinfourth said...

My students will still play that from time to time...usually when I don't let them on the computers and all of the games in the classroom are being used.

Sultan said...

Since I am one of the most competitive people on the planet I have been working hard on being less competitive. Sadly I cannot compete in that area.

Antares Cryptos said...

LOL. *why didn't I think of that*

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

Hmmmm... Gobblet? Never heard of it until now. But, having heard of it, I now must have it. I'm a board game fiend.

Ryan said...

Is it wrong that I never let my kids win at whatever game we're playing? I should really tone down my competitive spirit.

Nicki said...

What is this GOBBLET?

*Off to Amazon*

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