Relearning how to play cribbage

(Chapter 3 Memory Problems in my book)

In September, I learned how to play cribbage. I think that it was actually re-learning, because I do remember playing many, many years ago, but I don't think that I have played in at least twenty years or maybe longer. My boyfriend wanted a new cribbage board, so I bought him one for his birthday last month. I told him that I hoped that I could learn it again. I think that if he hadn't had a lot of patience, I never would have learned how to play cribbage again. It was slow going at the beginning, but he taught me in such a way that it lessened my confusion. There were times when I wanted to give up because I was so frustrated with how long it was taking me to understand this game, but I kept with it.

I know that over time I am getting better at playing and sometimes I even beat him! What is still difficult is when it is time for me to count the points in my hand and the crib. Because I have great difficulty with my short-term memory, I have a hard time remembering how many points that I just counted. I try to move my peg the same number of points that I just counted, but sometimes that is very difficult because I can't remember the number. Sometimes I will ask him what my count was and other times I will just recount my hand. I also know that right after I count my points and before I peg, he and I cannot talk about anything except my points, otherwise that number that I just counted is gone from my brain. This can be so frustrating to deal with! I'm not sure if there is a solution for this. I will continue to try to get better at playing cribbage. I think that if I tried to write down the count in my hand before moving my peg, I would still have a chance of forgetting it.

I know that learning new things is good for my brain. Although, it is usually difficult, challenging and frustrating for me to do this. Sometimes, I am the one who lacks patience for myself and I know that, and I really need to work on it.