Priorities

A couple hours ago Grace went down for her nap, Will headed off to the grocery store and Tyler was busy with some chores he owed his Dad. Justin was hypnotized by the TV in the family room, so that left Kayla, Daniel and I with nothing but time on our hands. Daniel asked if I wanted to play cards, and since the laundry wasn't due to be switched for another 45 minutes it seemed like a good plan. First, he and I played a game of War, which I WON!!! Then we moved on to Crazy 8's. At that point Kayla joined in on the fun. Daniel did a fine job of whooping us game after game, so when it was Kayla's turn to deal, she declared that we were switching to Go Fish. It was close, but I was victorious in the end!! Yippee! At this point, we were all ready for a different game. We brainstormed for a couple minutes, and were not coming up with anything.

Finally, I asked them if they knew how to play Blackjack. They didn't, so I thought it would be fun to teach them. The only trouble with that was that I have a VERY minimal knowledge of the game. I can't stand all the cigarette smoke in the casinos, and gambling for money practically gives me an anxiety attack. I figure that all those fancy hotels were not built because most people win, and I have a major issue with putting our hard earned money in the proverbial trash can; but I digress. I knew enough about playing to know that we each started out with two cards, and wanted to get as close to 21 as we could without going over. That was good enough to get us started, but we would need to employ Will's Blackjack knowledge upon his return if any of us were going to really learn something.

So, Will came home and the kids went outside to help carry in the groceries. As they were putting them away, I asked Will if he would do me a favor and deal through the deck one time so we could all learn a few things. After looking at me kind of funny (he knows how I feel about gambling), he happily agreed. So Kayla, Daniel, Will and I gathered around the table for our Blackjack lesson. All was going well for the first couple hands, but then Justin announced that he had a nose bleed. Now, lest you think we are horrible parents, this is a VERY common occurrence at our house. Justin was already in the bathroom with tissue pinched on his nose, and was in no jeopardy. With that in mind, Will told him that he would be there is just a minute.

A moment later, Justin yelled from the bathroom, "I'm in mid-nosebleed here!!!" Will encouraged him to keep the tissue stuffed under his nose, and assured him that he would REALLY be there in a minute. After all, we were having a serious Blackjack lesson and we had to finish getting through the deck.

Finally, no longer able to be patient, and with much indignance Justin shouted, "It's not funny to joke about coming to help someone!!!!"

Needless to say, that was the end of our lesson. ((blush))