My husband and some friends of ours and I coordinated some game nights awhile back - getting together for dinner (potluck) and some wine and a game for the evening. I really like these folks, and didn't feel like anyone was there to beat me, particularly. We were all there with the intention of having fun. There was no history of winning/losing between us. I enjoyed that IMMENSELY, regardless of whether I won or not.

When playing with my family, there's a lot of teasing about how well anyone is doing, and it can get pretty sarcastic/harsh. I've been working on letting go of caring so much about my family and the way that they are - specifically how the culture we were raised in which my siblings still cling to. It's highly competitive, and there was merciless teasing growing up that was really shaming. Is this like your upbringing? Do you have a history with getting emotional playing with your dad or others in your family?

As an adult, I have had a hard time with being competitive - I work really hard at trying to curb it, because it's not something that serves me well when I'm playing games with people I like/love.

With my family, now, I have to either not play at all, or choose to have a non-competitive approach to the games. Sometimes, that means I'm out of the game early on (can be a blessing). I don't engage in the negative banter anymore. I don't bring up the games later, and I don't respond to trash talking either during the games or after. It's taken some time, but I can play with my family now without getting super angry or frustrated if I'm not doing well. It's much more fun.

I actually think having kids helped with that a lot - it's no fun playing with someone that beats you all the time, and I want my kids to have fun playing with me. I don't let them win, per se, but I will alert them to good moves they might be missing, and I'm not super competitive with them. They're good practice for me...