Liam discovered the game of Life at school with his friends. We dusted off our box and what had been planned as a family game evening became Liam and Mom, playing with Liam’s rules. I must say this made the game much easier to learn. If Liam wasn’t sure of a rule, we read that one little section of the 25-page instructions for the game of Life; then Liam interpreted it and we played accordingly. This style of play would not have bode well for the Malcolm family of four. Did I gain insight or fear during the two rounds of Life with Liam?

First the babies were cute, but as they kept falling out of the car, he decided he wasn’t having any kids. They were too much of a hassle as he drove his car along the path. So, if we landed on “Twins!” or “New Baby!” we had the option of loading up the car or not.

On the first lawsuit square I landed on, I looked at Liam for guidance. He had about $50k, and I was supposed to sue him for $100k. Puzzled only momentarily, he cried out “I know!” and gave me $100k from the bank. We continued to sue the bank for hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout our game of Life.

Liam was adverse to the purchase of homes. “Well, where are you going to live?” He didn’t hesitate, “In my car on the hill.” I envisioned the loft over our barn being converted to an apartment in 15 years.

At the start of the game, there wasn’t a lot of organizing we had to do. We left all the cards face up in the lid and shook them so we could thoughtfully pick a career. A high salary career.

My favorite part was the careful planning on how he would move through Life. He looked ahead and counted the squares necessary to get to the spot where he wanted to land. Then with great finesse, he spun the spinner just so and 99% of the time landed exactly where he had planned. My spinning was a bit more haphazard. Which probably explains the end of both rounds, “I retired before you! TWICE!”

I'm sure his friends will set him straight on the rules when he plays Life with them again at school. But for today, atta boy, Liam!