Our ongoing game of Ninja vs. Samurai (click for more info) took a bizarre turn this past weekend. We were visiting my parents when I spotted my mom sneaking up on my son.

“Hey big guy,” I said. He looked at me just as my mom grabbed his shoulders from behind and shouted “Ninja!”

The big guy froze for a moment, and then dropped his head, smiling.

“Nana ninja,” I laughed. “You got ninja’d by nana!”

“Oh man,” he said as he walked to the table. I could tell he was embarrassed. “Oh man.”

For the record, though, there’s no shame in getting caught by Nana ninja. There are some things you just can’t see coming.