No, You Can't Play Monopoly

When I was a kid, I loved playing Monopoly with my friends.  We played long, sprawling games in which we seriously would give each other money if one person was on the verge of losing.  Winning wasn't the goal. Togetherness was.

Yesterday four of our kids were playing Monopoly together. Two of the children had total meltdowns over the game, as in screaming and howling and throwing tantrums and whining and rolling around in agony.

And this morning, one child wanted to play Monopoly.

And I was like, no.  No no no no no no no.

Mental health thing. I'm really worn out with the high emotions right now. If I was in a calmer frame of mind, I might be able to handle another round of meltdowns from Monopoly. But I'm not.  So no Monopoly until I'm feeling more stable.

I mean, I'm not going psycho, to be clear.  I'm being a GOOD mom.  But I do not enjoy meltdowns and my patience isn't at its normal levels.

So yeah, sometimes, as a mom, I have to make a decision to curtail an activity because it causes too many frantic emotions.

Sometimes those kinds of activities are valuable because Kevin and I can come alongside the child and help said child work through the emotions.

But I don't have it in me right now.

So no, you can't play Monopoly.  (Right now.)