I do not work for Monopoly or Parker Brothers.

Let's get one thing straight, I do not work for or have ever worked for Parker Brothers , the makers of Monopoly. I know I have mentioned monopoly here before, but I am not getting paid to talk about it. Got it?

Day three of summer vacation with my kids. After Erika was invited to sleep over at a friend's and husband was out of town, it was me and Blake. I thought, we can cuddle, watch a movie and eat popcorn. NOT!

Here's how it went down:

He said, "Take a break mommy, ( I was sitting at the computer) and lets play monopoly". It was about 5:30pm, and thought that was a great idea, so he set up the board game and was "not so"patiently waiting for me. I walked to the kitchen table to find "Atlanta in a Box" set up and ready to go.

FYI: "Atlanta in a Box" is a monopoly clone based in Atlanta, Georgia. It has spaces such as Georgia Tech, The Varsity, Zoo Atlanta, Dekalb Farmers Market, Turner Field, Georgia State Capitol, and Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Cards include local events and staples of life in Atlanta. Instead of houses, you build skylines. Instead of hotels, you get keys to the city. Instead of the race car, thimble, cannon and so forth, "Atlanta in a Box' has a Georgia Peach, baseball glove, sailboat, pretzel, etc.

My dad gave us this game before the kids were born. At the time, Craig and I looked at each other, both wondering, why? We already had monopoly. Well, thank you daddy, because we love playing this game as a family and Blake is the monopoly and "Atlanta in a Box" champ in our family. It has taught him to count money, make change, the value of money, saving for purchases and stuff like that. Only he's become slightly obsessed and very competitive.

So the game began, and it was obvious I was having luck landing on good property to purchase and I was getting set-up nicely. I was making a lot of money, too. He was getting really frustrated and started whining about how it was not fair, and I had so much property, and he had no money, etc. And it kept happening, my luck was getting better. Then the alligator tears started falling, and it tore right into me. I mean, come on! He's 7! I purposely skipped a space or two, so his "baseball glove" wouldn't land on my property, I mean, come on! He's 7! So eventually we were in trading mode, and I let him convince me to make a deal that was certainly to his advantage. This was the beginning of the end for me. The tables turned, he started making money, getting more property, yada, yada, yada. You know the story. 4 1/2 hours later, he wipes me out, and thank goodness, too, I was exhausted.

So, was I wrong to let a few things slide during our game to allow a better outcome for him, which in turn paved the way for him to win? Let me remind you, he's 7! He has the cutest dimples and big beautiful eyes. I wanted our evening to be special and memorable. I accomplished that, for sure.

Fun facts about monopoly:

• Over 200 million MONOPOLY games have been sold worldwide.
• More than five billion little green houses have been "built" since 1935.
• A MONOPOLY game made by my friends at Alfred Dunhill, with gold houses and silver hotels, sold for $25,000.
• The longest MONOPOLY game in history lasted 70 straight days.
• The longest MONOPOLY game in a bathtub lasted 99 hours!

Don't tell Blake, or we'll be playing in the bathtub!