I'm a good mom...I'm a good mom...I'm a good mom...

The 14-yr-old and I have been down at the beach this week while I take some time off of work and the 11-year-old is at camp.

In an effort to spend some quality time with him, we exhausted lots of "together" activities: gin rummy, Rummikub, take-out sushi, running together, sailing a catamaran in the bay (a teeny weeny one), dipping in the ocean...

A couple of nights ago, we were tired of gin and tired of Rummikub, and he loathes backgammon.

"Okay," I said. I'll teach you how to play poker.

I'm a good mom I'm a good mom I'm a good mom.

It seemed innocent enough. We used plastic chips and I taught him that a full house beats 3 of a kind. We played 5-card draw. He caught on quickly but his luck couldn't match mine - I'm EXTREMELY lucky in cards and parking spots. I got tired of winning. He had no chips left. The most important lesson I tried to impart was the "poker face" concept. When I couldn't stand winning anymore, I quit. I told him I had had enough. The 14-year-old, however, had become obsessed.

With my withdrawal from the game, he desperately considered his options. I picked up a book. He dealt a hand to Sophie (the German Shepherd) and doled out some chips to her. He played with Sophie.

Sophie kept winning. "She's really good," he joked.

The next morning he was still sleeping at 11:45 when I went down to the beach. He finally came down around 1:00 pm. "Whatcha been doin'?" I asked him.

"Playing poker with Sophie," he answered. "She keeps winning."

We need to find him another good book...