When sis and I were little, we used to go to our aunt's house on New Years and play games and run around while the "grown up's" engaged in all out, no mercy games of tile. Back to back, relentless, until new year's would literally come and go, and the ticking of the tiles would continue until the dawn.
When the moms and dads and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas took a break, the children would (try to) build castles, fortresses and roads with the tiles. Shot down quickly, it was explained with great clarity that majong is not a game for kids. The majong tiles are NOT toys. The kids would listen a second, then run off to find something else to get into. It was fun. And easy. And we never felt the need to sit and watch to learn the game that only adults were invited to play anyway.
The year 2013: The "kids" have grown up, moved out, started families, paid mortgages, learned a bunch of new things and are now teaching their own kids about life. It is really different , the world we live in now. Gray says that he wishes he was in middle school when we were because he wants the option to "buy french fries and other good unhealthy food" The big one says that it would be so hard to , "do school without the internet." I went ahead and aged myself by stating (truthfully) that I didn't get my first computer until my first year in college. After a moment of thought, the next question from that kid was,"Were you too poor to buy one?" Yup. We for sure live in a different world.
But I'd like to think that some things stay the same.
For one: FAMILY. Loud, messy,giving, obnoxious, sneaky, thoughtful , selfish/ selfless. All the bad and all the good... it is what we are gifted with while we are here. Everyone's tiles are different and there are a lot of different ways to play. Some tiles need strategy to discard, while others are obviously not going to fit unless quite a bit changes first. There are some sets that are established at the beginning and there is never a second thought of breaking the set apart. Other sets get challenged when a different tile appears. Perhaps a tile that looks like it *might* make the whole set better.
Wait? What are we talking about?
Never the less, life has changed. The world is much smaller and much bigger than what it once was. So everyone learns along the way and tries their best to stay focused and take care of the ones around them.
I have never taught my boys how to play majong. They never watch because they are too busy running around with cousins. I myself never got the official "tutorial" on this Asian Sport of Champions. But I get the concept of discarding what's not needed and keeping the good sets in tact. That's all I need to win.
We played majong on Christmas (it must be in the blood) and will soon play sometime into the new year. I'm hoping on seven pairs before the 6th. And I'll only get rid of the ones that don't fit into the whole picture.
After all, I might not know much about the challenges that my boys face as they grow up, but I do know what the winning picture looks like. And that picture is perfect because all the pieces you don't need had been discarded.
When the moms and dads and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas took a break, the children would (try to) build castles, fortresses and roads with the tiles. Shot down quickly, it was explained with great clarity that majong is not a game for kids. The majong tiles are NOT toys. The kids would listen a second, then run off to find something else to get into. It was fun. And easy. And we never felt the need to sit and watch to learn the game that only adults were invited to play anyway.
But I'd like to think that some things stay the same.
For one: FAMILY. Loud, messy,giving, obnoxious, sneaky, thoughtful , selfish/ selfless. All the bad and all the good... it is what we are gifted with while we are here. Everyone's tiles are different and there are a lot of different ways to play. Some tiles need strategy to discard, while others are obviously not going to fit unless quite a bit changes first. There are some sets that are established at the beginning and there is never a second thought of breaking the set apart. Other sets get challenged when a different tile appears. Perhaps a tile that looks like it *might* make the whole set better.
Wait? What are we talking about?
Never the less, life has changed. The world is much smaller and much bigger than what it once was. So everyone learns along the way and tries their best to stay focused and take care of the ones around them.
I have never taught my boys how to play majong. They never watch because they are too busy running around with cousins. I myself never got the official "tutorial" on this Asian Sport of Champions. But I get the concept of discarding what's not needed and keeping the good sets in tact. That's all I need to win.
We played majong on Christmas (it must be in the blood) and will soon play sometime into the new year. I'm hoping on seven pairs before the 6th. And I'll only get rid of the ones that don't fit into the whole picture.
After all, I might not know much about the challenges that my boys face as they grow up, but I do know what the winning picture looks like. And that picture is perfect because all the pieces you don't need had been discarded.
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