Words With Husbands

Larry and I were heading home from work one day this week. I was driving; Larry had his phone out and was playing Plants vs. Zombies.

"Hey, what's that game on Facebook that you play?" he asked me. I could hear the unmistakable sound of a zombie chewing, so I was unprepared for a question.

"What game?" I was stumped by his lack of specificity*.

"You know, that one?" Larry said. "The friends?"

"Words with Friends?"

"Yeah. I was looking at that."

(Silence)

My husband has a tendency to mentally wander off in the middle of conversations. I waited a few seconds to see if he would get back on track, then I redirected him with a prompt.

"And?"

"I might like to play it."

"Cool."

It was so nice to have a meaningful conversation. Since I am not really competitive, I knew that it was extremely likely that he would win many of the games we played. I did not want him doing a touchdown dance if he won a game. That would be just plain overkill.

Later that evening, Larry fired up his laptop to start a Words with Friends game with me. Zane was in his Robin the Boy Wonder costume and running around the kitchen chasing one of the cats. I was reading blogs. When I am reading something interesting, I am in 'the Zone'. Everything else is tuned out. This is when my husband often chooses to ask me questions.

"How do you play?"

"What are these letters, DL and TW, already on the board?"

"Hey, it's your turn."

"It's your turn now."

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes for you to take your turn!"

I finally played a word, then I went to bed. My game playing is strictly for fun. I've got about five games going with my various relatives and friends, and it can be days before I think up a word. My husband's need for an instant response may crush my groove, however. He will probably wake me up in the middle of the night, laptop in hand, for me to take my turn.

Maybe I should just let him win every game?








*I'll bet that you can't say 'specificity' five times fast!!