I also bring her some flowers. She is in a new apartment, and she still hasn't finished furnishing and decorating it yet, so I figure after the week she has had, a little pop of color might brighten up her space. She loves the color purple, so I bring her a purple bouquet and a thick glass vase.
After dinner I ask her to play a game with me. You see, at my house, I have games, games, and more games. Some of these games I've had since I was a kid, like the original Masterpiece Art Auction game. Some of them I found online and replaced the originals, like the original Barbie Queen of the Prom. Others I have the originals for but had to replace parts, like buying replacement stones for the original Mancala board (although the original stones, done in glittery milk-like glaze, will never truly be replaced by the modern glassy versions). I have a touch of old and new: old Mille Bornes game, new Rat-A-Tat Cat game; old version of Chinese checkers; new Quiddler.
I am shocked to discover that my daughter has no games, not even a deck of cards, at her house. We run up the street to a pharmacy store, but all they have to offer is Uno. They have several versions of Uno, but it's still all Uno. That is, until she spots the Peanuts Gang version. Without even batting an eyelash, we are out of the store in a flash, holding the prized Peanuts Uno in our hot hands.
It takes a few rounds to get used to these cards and their weird instructions, but pretty soon my daughter is soundly kicking my ass at Peanuts Uno. I've got to get her games stocked, though. Maybe for her birthday we'll take a trip to Toys 'R' Us and stock up on a few classics: Battleship, Monopoly, Yahtzee, Cards Against Humanity. In the meantime, Charlie Brown and Linus and the gang will have to keep her company.
