If life was a game...

8. When I was younger I got along with my family fairly well. There are always some kinds of sibling rivalry and living with siblings that causes some fighting. Generally I’d say I got along with them okay. Getting along with my parents has never been an issue too much. I’m a relatively good kid and my parents never really fight about anything major. The things that start the most conflict between my parents and me are the little things. “Oh, you got all A’s? Good.” “Oh, you finished your college applications? Good.” “Oh, you left your sock on the floor? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU ARE TEARING THIS FAMILY APART!” It is certainly not that extreme but that is the general idea. As far as getting along with my other relatives I do pretty much all the time. Times spent with cousins are among my favorite memories from childhood. On my mom’s side of the family we take regular trips almost annually to a variety of places. These vacations are some of my favorite childhood memories.

15. My childhood was basically one big game. From playing imaginary games with Legos or stuffed animals to playing outdoor games with cousins and friends and board games and card games with the whole family, I was a huge gamer. My brothers and I used to be really into Legos and this thing called “Imaginex.” Obviously with Legos we could craft all kinds of marvelous adventures for our Lego people and have a grand ol’ time with them. Imaginex had pieces you could use to build castles, forts, wizard towers, among other things. You would buy one set, the wizard tower for example, and it would come with all the things necessary for a wizard. Then you could mix and match certain pieces to build entirely new creations. We had elaborate story lines full of vampires, knights, dragons, pirates, wizards, witches, and other wonderful things. I distinctly remember a certain red vampire who was the most powerful creature of all. If he was a good guy on a certain day, the good guys were certainly going to be victorious. However, if his actions were swayed towards the evil side, then evil would certainly have a fighting chance. Another imagination game my brothers and I liked to play in our younger years was with the stuffed animals we had. This may not sound as boyish as the other two but this was certainly just as fun. We had certain stuffed animals that were repeat characters on whatever we did. They went to relatively normal places such as the mall, school, or a sports game as well as other imagined places such as Hogwarts, a castle, a space station, and various movie sets. Many of them were Webkinz (stuffed animals that come with a code to enter online and have a virtual pet) or Build-a-Bears. We had the athletes, (Keegan the Kangaroo, Thet the Dog, Yadi the Dolphin, and Skip the Manatee) the nerds, (Snickerdoodle the Leopard, Sunshine the Tiger, and Pillow the Pig) the bullies, (Balto the Husky and Tyler the Dalmatian) and of course the fat ones that just wanted to eat all day (Tyger and Tyger Jr. the Elephants, Twix the Muskrat, and Happy Cupcake the Bear). Our cousins also had many stuffed animals and together we had various adventures with them. Also, with our cousins we played many outdoor games and ‘circle’ games. These games consisted of Mafia, Honey If You Love Me, Grandma’s Big Fat Toe, Color, Signs, some game about animals; I forget what it’s called; and many others. Due to the fact that I’ve already written well over three hundred words in just the answer to this question, I will abstain from going into the details of the rules of these games. We also enjoyed playing many board games and card games and my family is still very big into all kinds of board and card games. Perhaps the most intense is Riskopoly (for the entire set of rules click here): a mix of Risk and Monopoly that is sure to take ages to finish and crush friendships. This game is a cutthroat peak into what it is like to be a leader of a worldwide empire. Hand and Foot is always a favorite to play with my grandparents, but pretty much any card game is high on their list. Anyway, I suppose that’s about all. As you can see, it is quite evident that my childhood revolved around games. One last item of note is that there was not a single video game mentioned here as I didn’t even know they existed until well into middle school.