Games!

We've been on a game kick recently. Having six kids in 8 years has always meant that we've had lots and lots of babies and toddlers. (Well, maybe not lots and lots but a 2-year-old and a newborn at once can really seem like "lots and lots"!)

At any rate, we've never had much success in keeping games. We've had lots - Cherry-Oh!, Candyland, several Monopoly sets and Monopoly Jr., Chutes & Ladders, Guess Who, Clue, etc., etc. I grew up with lots of games, and we kept our games for years and years, so it was always a little disconcerting to me when my kids couldn't seem to keep their games, and for a while I just hesitated to buy them at all.

Well, I do think it is an age thing, as my kids have been keeping games better lately. We have a couple of Monopoly sets that get good use now, and I just got a Risk game for my 10-year-old son. And they've got Clue, and some others that are staying together and remaining usable.

My 13-year-old son found a Dungeons & Dragons board game at a thrift store recently, for 50 cents. How could I say no? It was just 50 cents, and in good condition. The character pieces were missing, but that was no big deal - they use Legos or pieces from their Monopoly set instead.

I did wonder at first if he'd suddenly grow thick glasses or start walking around talking in a fake English accent, like my friend who was a big D & D fanatic in junior high did. But, fortunately, my kids, being homeschooled, have no idea that there is such a thing as a "cool crowd". They just know that some kids are easy to get along with and some are more difficult. And some kids have more things in common with them, and others have less.

So -- my son is a brilliant young man, and very interested in lots of things, and has been playing D & D safely, with no additional signs of geekdom turning up. Not that I care, actually - his interest in science, and his tendency to view things as a scientist has already indicated that he's following in his daddy's footsteps, which is definitely a bit "geeky" but in the coolest possible way!

Here are some more links about my religion, Scientology:

Life Positive - Dianetics
Guardian - Scientology
CedarNet - Scientology
Religious Freedom - Scientology
Scientology

I have really been able to use Scientology in raising my children - Scientology children have a real advantage, in that there are a variety of courses available to them, as soon as they are old enough to read. Even young children can receive assists and auditing, too.

I just did the "Belief-O-Matic" quiz on Beliefnet. This was a really interesting test just to TAKE, let alone to see the results.

Here were my results:

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (98%)
3. New Age (96%)
4. Mahayana Buddhism (92%)
5. Hinduism (91%)
6. Scientology (87%)
7. New Thought (85%)
8. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (83%)
9. Liberal Quakers (76%)
10. Theravada Buddhism (73%)
11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (69%)
12. Taoism (68%)
13. Sikhism (62%)
14. Secular Humanism (57%)
15. Jainism (55%)
16. Reform Judaism (48%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (42%)
18. Bahá'í Faith (41%)
19. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (38%)
20. Eastern Orthodox (36%)
21. Roman Catholic (36%)
22. Orthodox Judaism (33%)
23. Nontheist (33%)
24. Jehovah's Witness (30%)
25. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (28%)
26. Seventh Day Adventist (27%)
27. Islam (22%)

It's really interesting, because I've had a great deal of interest in all the religions that have appeared at the top of my list.

It is really important to me to teach religious tolerance to my children, and I feel the best way to do this is to actually study about and understand the religions of others.

Some groups that really help in that area:

Youth for Human Rights

Foundation for Religious Freedom

We had a birthday this week, and one of the gifts we gave our son was a craft kit with colorful pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls, and little jiggly eyes. He made some cute, funky little "bugs" with the materials.

I have found that giving my kids a variety of raw materials for making things is really helpful - colored paper, little pieces of wood (like wooden balls or dowels), beads, wire, string, etc., and they come up with the most imaginative stuff!

Then they can give their creations away as presents, so there are multiple uses here.