Game, chess, match

Vacation preparation looks different when you’re a team of three. Once upon a time we bought flights to Hawaii for the next day without blinking an eye. This summer we started preparing 6 months in advance for a trip to Missouri and still felt rushed. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it was a well planned trip though. No matter my planning, the best parts still come as a surprise to us all. I bizarrely love following the spontaneous desires of a 5 year old.

On our summer vacation this special side quest was brought to us by Kai. While reading a book about the 50 states on the drive, he fixated on a small, side column bit of information, informing him that St. Louis is home to the World Chess Hall of Fame and Galleries. Up until this point, his only exposure to chess has been visiting the chess board on the second floor of the library where we have to whisper because it’s the area for the grown ups. As we sit there we look at the pieces, ask what they do, and just continue to wonder, because I, as the grown up of the pair of us, do not actually know how to play.

The one thing important enough to keep us outside on a hot day.

But here we were, in his opinion, heading to the very heart of the chess world. When we reviewed our itinerary on arrival he ensured this was place as our highest priority. So after checking their hours against our free time, we were ready for our first opportunity.

The world’s largest chess piece.

Chess sets imagined as cats and dogs.

We saw chess sets made out of all sorts of animals, giant chess, teeny tiny chess, books about chess, a giant dinosaur coming out of the wall. I don’t remember what that was about. But he was completely entranced. So we got our own book about learning to play and he chose his own pieces to take home after a lot of giant chess playing. There were tears as this magical place began to close, but I assured him that chess could be with us everywhere. And it was.

Playing chess at the Airbnb.

We played everywhere. Restaurants, convention center, outdoors, at home, in the car, at the park. There was nowhere that chess was off limits. While we learned and stuck to the piece’s proper movements, our rules were rather loose in every other way. I mean, when you’re a young, creative kid, you have so many ideas of how to make it different and special. He’s an incredible kid. I think it all boils down to that.

I will say my biggest lesson in the whole chess ordeal is that nothing will be as fascinating to him as something he discovers himself. Sometimes the best thing I can do for him is follow him around in his own adventures instead of expecting he will always stick to mine.