Tyler's Challenge for Me

This post is about Tyler. As a mom, we sometimes have to give in and grow in areas we previously didn't want to venture into. Playing chess was one of those areas for me. I have never been a good stratigist (is that a word?) and math was not my favorite subject. For these reasons I avoided learning how to play chess as I was growing up. When Tyler was about 6 years old and in Kindergarden, it became obvious that he was gifted in the area of math. I used to play games such as Uno and Skip-bo with him and for some reason he wanted to learn to play Chess. I decided to look up the rules on the internet and we used a cheap set that we already had. I taught him the basics and he picked it up really fast. Now he plays at school for fun and claims to have beaten one of the best players at his school. I have to admit I rarely beat him now and he can beat his dad occasionaly (Ryan is really good at math and is good at stratagy games- what do you expect of an accountant/auditor?). Now, back to the picture- it was a really pretty Saturday during Christmas break and Tyler gets this great idea of playing Chess outside with me. I didn't jump up and down at the idea but I agreed too because it was such a pretty day and I needed to get outside and soak up some Vitamin D. Tyler got this glass set for Christmas and wanted to use it all the time. It was about 30 degrees outside and verrrry bright. We had to wear sunglasses! We played in our front driveway. As usual, Tyler won and I was able to savor the memory of our together time by taking a picture. Tyler has since given me the compliment that he likes playing against me because I challenge him(I don't play easy). I guess I've improved over the years! But he still beats me!!!!!!