Can We Play? — Go to the Head of the Class, Clue, Candyland, and Chutes & Ladders

I have absolutely no memories of playing board games at my own house growing up. I know they are there and I know I played them because there are photos — Battleship, Othello, and okay, some elaborate Witch game that was 3D and involved a rolling ball or something, so yeah I remember now — but it wasn’t the same as when we played at grandma and grandpa’s. For some reason the games were up in Uncle Tom’s room, on an open bookshelf. They were old, boxes cracked and it felt like we were going on an archeological dig when we brought them down, dust flying around us in a puff and asked, “Can we play?”

What’s strange is that when I went to buy my kids Candyland and Chutes and Ladders I was incredibly disturbed by the cartoonish figures on the outside of the box. I was used to the the original versions, or the 50’s versions that my grandparents kept upstairs. And so I waited until I could find some vintage versions and bought those. We hardly play though. I don’t know what that’s about, but I hardly play board games with my kids. Bores the crap out of me. But that’s Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. Pretty basic and my kids had more fun playing with the players and so most of them are now missing.

But, Go to the Head of the Class was something different. Like a precursor to Trivial Pursuit, except we had half of a chance of the answers, and I loved all those little desks on the board — probably because I was at a Montessori school with tables. My kids aren’t at Montessori anymore and even the public school in our neighborhood has tables and a carpet for circle time. Ah, times have changed.

So the other fave was Clue. Now I know there was an older version up in Uncle Tom’s room, but I can’t for the life of me remember it. Maybe it was too beat up and so they got a replacement one, because I just remember the dark 70’s makeup on Miss Scarlett, oh how we all wanted to be Miss Scarlett! But what a great strategic game that even strategically challenged me could play. Frankly, I got into Risk for a while too. Not sure which boy introduced that to me but maybe it was Robert Sprague? See how lucky I am? I have a huge clan and only half are actually related to me by blood.

All right, enough indoor fun. It was practically Spring today. Oh wait, it was. Sun, slight breeze, 50’s. That’s Spring! Yay!