When I was younger, Monopoly was one of those games that I loved to play with my siblings. I have great memories of counting the money, buying the hotels, and one of my siblings eventually winning it all. Peter received his first Monopoly game yesterday, and my how times have changed...
Last week, my mother-in-law called and asked if Peter would like Monopoly for Easter. Not having a copy of it, I thought this was a great idea. Peter's class has been working on money in Math (his favorite subject), and I thought this might be good reinforcement for him. Plus, he loves playing games, so I thought this would be a great one for him to play with his Dad and I at night after Drew and Michael went to bed.
Well, Peter got it yesterday, and although I know there are many different flavors of Monopoly out there, I assumed he would be getting the classic version. Wow, was I wrong! The latest version is the "debit card" edition where instead of using paper money, you have a credit card and the money is taken on and off by sliding it through the debit card machine. While I understand how the company is trying to modernize a classic, I think it is wrong on so many different levels.
First and foremost, credit cards? We are trying to teach the boys the importance of paying for things outright, not using credit. They may call this the debit card edition, but to a child, it is just a credit card, and there is no understanding of actually using cash to pay for something. You are also losing the mathematical value of the game because you have this little machine that looks like a calculator that does the math for you. If you are adding to the person's card, then you swipe the plus side. If you are spending, you swipe on the minus side. This whole concept was so disappointing!
Also, they have renamed everything! OK, I understand that some people might want Wisconsinopoly or Super Mario edition Monopoly, and that is fine, but I want the classic! Gone was Park Place and Boardwalk. It was replaced with things like Texas Stadium and the Arch in St; Louis. Instead of paying Luxury Tax, you pay interest on your debit card! Come on! There is just something familiar about the classic...and I intend on buying it...if I can find it.
3 comments:
I know, things have gotten out of hand. Jeff and I had a similar experience when we wanted to buy alphabet refrigerator magnets. All we wanted was letters for the frig that Daniella could move around and make words while I cooked dinner. I went to Toys R Us and had a devil of a time finding them. When I went to ask for help and the lady asked, "Do you want ones that talk or just regular ones?" I knew this wasn't my mother's Toys R Us anymore.
Even better, try the children's Monopoly for now. My girls have it and can play pretty independently. They only start with like, $14 - a much more respectable amount of money for a 7 year old!
Hey writermom- where can I find that version? i grew up playing Monopoly and want my child to have fun with it too.
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