Dubbed a philologist during one Fulbright
Year of teaching in Germany, the term stuck
with me. Learning foreign languages
fascinated me and was facile. Words were fun.
One of our favorite family board games
became Scrabble. It is a tradition when
we come together as a family to get out the
game after dinner. Mainly we opt for English.
If you listen to most stories of childbirth, the
discussion most often centers on how long labor
was. I wonder who else enjoyed a game of
Scrabble as we did? I venture to say – few did.
Our firstborn became an attorney and loves
words and stumping us at every chance. We
phoned and sang our traditional birthday
song to him this morning for the occasion.
Soon we will come together to enjoy
challenging our brains with the game.
We love to leave past game scores in
the box along with the current weather.
To whet the game appetite, I even
acquired a Scrabble calendar with daily
tear off pages. Chuckle all you like, but
we take this game seriously! Who else
modifies the rules to include the use
of dictionaries and devices? This is our
great bonding experience as a family.
Happy Birthday, Tom. Get ready!
Dr. Mary Ann Niemczura 
Happy Birthday to your son. He looks so cute in his lederhosen. My mom and her aunt often played scrabble in their later years, and my 96-year-old great-aunt often won. It does help to keep the brain going.
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Darlene, thank you for your great comment. Impressive about your Great-Aunt who affirms lifelong learning and who also must have loved words and read many books. Crossword puzzles? I played Scrabble with my classes in both German and in French. Agree that it is good for the brain! Enjoy the weekend. oxox
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Oh yes, she did crossword puzzles too! Scrabble could be a good way to learn a new language as well.
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Indeed. I allowed my students to use their books and dictionaries so as to improve word quality and involve everyone. My mother loved crossword puzzles and brain teasers. Thanks again for another lovely comment. oxox
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Get the dictionary and device ready!! I’ll have Isabella on my team ha ha! Looking forward to family time together!
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Emily, thank you for your lovely comment. Will get the items ready for what will be a formidable team! Quality family time is the greatest gift of all. Enjoy the weekend and stay warm with the wind chills! oxox
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No using the device!
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RN, thanks for the amusing comment. Unfortunately, some of the players have already requested said option. Perhaps a vote or a compromise? Enjoy the weekend and stay warm in the dangerous wind chills. oxox
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Your scrabble games sound like stimulated fun. I’m not good at the game, although I love crossword puzzles.
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Anne, thank you for your lovely comment. Sometimes we play in teams which is a great way to combine the talent. Or play a version which allows more tiles so that the game moves along. Crossword puzzles is great homework for Scrabble. It is the family bonding time which makes it a pleasure! Enjoy the weekend. oxox
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Our family would never have bonded with a word game. We do have a number of good punsters, so we like to play with words vocally. oxox
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Great excitement with punsters.Our son is quick with those too. oxox
p.s. All schools were closed today because of our wind chills. Currently it is a -26 wind chill!
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A beautiful birthday tribute, and wonderful family photos!
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Khaya, thank you for your very nice comment. Family is important in life. We have shared many loving memories together. Have a lovely Sunday and week ahead. oxox
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Wonderful photos of your family, Mary-Ann. I remember playing Scrabble when I was younger, and played it a lot at home. It was a good way of learning words growing up. I did use the dictionary to help me out sometimes, flipping through it to find a word that would work with my letters. The other day I rediscovered the Scrabble set I had all those years ago. I am keeping it. Hope you are doing well.
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Mabel, thank you for your thoughtful comment. Much appreciated. I too belong to the school of thought of allowing dictionary use during Scrabble. We can learn new words! Keep that Scrabble set for when a like-minded friend comes over. We upgraded to a deluxe set and love the ease of turning the board so that no one has to look upside down to form words. Hope you have a good week. ox
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Certainly many new words to learn with Scrabble. I think it’s a classic game that offers endless hours of fun. The deluxe set sounds like a good upgrade especially with the turning board. Hope you continue to have fun with Scrabble 🙂
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Thank you for the insightful comment. Hope you have an equally enjoyable board game or two. Have a good rest of the week. “”__””
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