Morality Play

While my son-in-law whisked his lady fair (aka my daughter) off for a surprise weekend getaway for her birthday, I entertained my granddaughter at our house. She is a wonderful little girl and it’s always fun to have her here. However, I am not exactly what you might call the grandmotherly type and dealing with small children has never been my forte. I try my best but it just doesn’t come naturally to me.

I gave it my best shot this weekend and I think we covered a lot of ground. We played house, tea party, two moms with our own babies to care for; hers was a little cow and I was the proud mother of a small care bear (Good Luck Bear if you must know). We went for a long walk, blew bubbles, swung on a tire swing, played "red light, green light" with my granddaughter’s addition of "purple light". If this variation ever comes up in your next thrilling game, it means hide behind a peach tree.

We read books, played colorforms, "read" the newspaper, looked at old Highlights magazines–I knew I was hanging onto all my daughter’s old children’s magazines for a reason including Ranger Rick and My Big Outdoors. Throughout all this we broke for meals, snacks, bedtime, a nap "I don’t need a na...zzzzz", this less than thirty seconds later. Suddenly a lightbulb appeared over my head and it was lit too! Let’s play a game, suggested Gramma when she woke up, a new game that Gramma doesn’t mind playing.

Everyone’s heard of and has probably played that old chestnut, "Chutes and Ladders". Well, I never had that game in my home but I had its predecessor. The format and object of the game is identical but I grew up playing "Snakes and Ladders". I’ve had this board game, well, forever. It belonged to my mother when she was a little girl–we’re talking a long time ago. This game board was new in my mother’s time. She was born in 1914. Let’s imagine she received it as a Christmas present when she was around seven years old. That would make the board I brought out to teach my granddaughter a new game to play 84 years old!

My mother played this game when it was new, most likely with her younger sister. She packed it with her to set up housekeeping with my father. She played it with my siblings, they played it with each other and years later, with me. Somehow I ended up with it and brought it to my new household. I taught my daughter to play and many years later, my son. It has lain dormant in the game cupboard for at least ten years. The time had come to retrieve this game once more and introduce it to a fourth generation. That is just so cool, don’t you think?

"Snakes and Ladders" is quite simple to play. The object of the game is to become the first to reach the final "100" square. No skill is necessary; all that’s required is a "man" for each player, a die and an infinite amount of patience. "Snakes and Ladders" is such a morality play. This vintage game from my mother’s youth is one lesson after another. Good things are incorporated into ladders which bring a player closer to the winning square. Bad things become snakes which take you further away from winning. The words and illustrations on this old game board are amazing. Each ladder ascent and snake fall depicts one word and a picture of a child illustrating this word. As I look at this board now, all that really needs to be learned and practiced in life is here–was here before my eyes all this time. Oh my, it was my first not-so-subliminal message and I’m only seeing it now. Pathetic.

Here are the ladders -- good things:

Sympathy = Love

Unity = Strength

Patience = Attainment

Courage = Reward

Generosity = Gratitude

Thrift = Fulfillment

Industry = Success

Penitence = Grace

Confession = Forgiveness

Here are the snakes -- bad things:

illdoing = Trouble

Pugnacity = Pain

Conceit = Friendlessness

Disobedience = Disgrace

Temper = Regret

Mischief = Woe

Indulgence = illness

Indolence = Poverty

Dishonesty = Punishment

There are nine of each and it’s interesting to note that the tallest ladder is Thrift/Fulfillment and the longest snake is Indulgence/illness. We’ve heard it been said that all we ever needed to know in life we learned in kindergarten. Apparently, I learned (or was taught in a subtle way) what was important in life long before then. Do you think we’ll be playing this game again soon? I’m certain of it.