My mother lived with us at times, bless her heart.  Our household was always in chaos with four kids and all of their friends running in and out.  She lived a different life.  I was an only child, and the greeting I got home when I arrived home was always, “Keep your hands off the walls.”

I was in the kitchen making messy spaghetti sauce to feed a hundred people.  My mom and our youngest son, three, were playing Candy Land in the family room.  I could hear the spinner and the small clicks of the game pieces on the board set on the coffee table.  “Finally, whew!” I thought to myself.

The peace was shattered.  My mom cried out in a whine, “He’s cheating…Shay…ron!”  I stopped what I was doing and went out there to see what he could possibly be doing at three.”

My mother flicked the spinner to show me and it landed at three.  She moved her game piece three spaces.  Alex flicked the spinner.  It landed on two.  He then put one finger out and carefully moved the spinner to five.  He moved his game piece five spaces, clicking the top of my mom’s game piece as he passed hers.

I had to intervene.  My mom would not back down, and neither would my three year old son.  I ended the damned game, and my sauce scorched in the kitchen.