Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
I don’t like conventions.
I don’t like board games.
So, of course, it’s 9:30am in the morning, and I’m due to spend the next twelve hours at a board-game convention.
All I can say about that is: The things we do for our kids.
The conference is at a hotel in Irvine, sort of by the airport – which means I can’t buy so much as a coffee at the cafe, because #costamesa365.
My kids are off, who-knows-where, board-gaming their little brains out. I’m tucked into a corner with my laptop and a giant cooler full of Costa Mesa food, hoping to get some writing done amidst the cacophony.
I will survive.
My deep dislike of board games is a running gag among my family and friends. They find it both comedic and confusing.
Honestly, I’m not sure why I don’t like them. (No judgement if you do! I’m in the minority, to be sure.)
My best guess is that – because I’m entrepreneurial – life is the ultimate game and anything less than that feels, well, flat. (Fellow entrepreneurs, can you relate? Let me know in our Facebook Group!)
I can still be talked into playing the occasional board game. If I’m enjoying the company of close friends or family then it can be kind of nice to dabble.
But spending 12 hours at a convention of people I don’t know, and will probably never see again – with the sole purpose of board-gaming with them? I really can’t even.
The rub is that I think board-games, card games – and all sorts of games – are great learning tools. More and more studies show that gameplay is an excellent way for kids to learn math, strategy, critical thinking, language and more. It’s likely good for all of us.
Which is why I now find myself in the classic “good for them, sucks for me” parenting situation. But I can always mom-up for learning. So if they’re going, I’m driving.
None of this really matters in the scheme of #costamesa365, except to say I’m holding myself accountable to only shop in Costa Mesa… even as I hide in a conference room in Irvine.
And, I guess, to let you know if I demur at your game-night invite? It’s not you, it’s me.
Game on! ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
