Winning and Losing

As usual, we do family time on Wednesdays and Ryan loves it not because of the bible/prayer time, but the board game afterward. We recently started on a jr. version of scrabble and he absolutely loves it. Ryan is very quick to learning strategies. He is definitely good at scheming things. But his downfall comes when he feels like he is losing. The other night, when charles and I both got points and he still didn't get any, he refused to play a letter that potentially can get him points later. Simply, he just ignored the rules when his winning chance was threatened. There was a big hooblah that followed with crying, tantrum, and the whole 9 yard. Then after he calmed down and I stopped whooping him; all of a sudden, I understood why he acted up this time but not before (he always get a point too just like us before having to face that issue). I know he get that part from me...not a good loser. So, I had to explain to him that ending the game would be more painful that losing; no one would play with him who broke rules. But it is another thought that probably help him more - being behind does not equal to losing; I tell him when that happens, remind himself that as long as the game is not over yet, I can still win. I hope he will learn from it or he will lose more in life.