They're young, not dumb.

I feel compelled to reiterate this. It's the root of an argument I've had repeatedly with some of my friends.

I never let the kids win when we play games or otherwise compete. I do place constraints on my own efforts to keep things fair, but within those constraints, I play my damnedest to win.  Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.  They're learning to do both more gracefully, and as they get better and better, I have to constrain myself less and less.

The kids in the neighborhood have taken to playing Pokemon, and my son's in the thick of it.  In his enthusiasm for the game, he begged his mother and me to buy decks so he could play against us.  I picked up my deck this week and let him teach me.  I lost the first few games while I got a feel for the mechanics of it, then started reliably beating him while he picked up my tricks.  It was a lot of fun, especially since he's grown enough to get competitive instead of whiny in the face of it.

Apparently, I now have a reputation as the man in the neighborhood to beat.  My doorbell rang a short while ago, and one of my son's friends was on the porch, Pokemon deck in hand.  We informed him that our son was out of town, but would be back next week, to which he responded that he was here to play against me.

Heh.

Take note, folks.  It's not just my kids who like to be challenged.