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43, wife, mother, jack of all trades & master of none. I work part time from home & love it. I have an Etsy shop selling handmade baby it...
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Family Game Night

January 03, 2011 8:36 am by texasebeth in Games
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I grew up playing games of all sorts. Board games, card games, Dominoes and variations of Dominoes, you name it - we probably played it or attempted it. Hubby did not.

Looking back (hindsight is always 20/20) I have wonderful memories of those times with friends and family. Sure there were times when it stank to be home with your parents playing Uno. The simple solution was my parents invited my friends over to play with us. Game night was at least once a month, sometimes more. When we lived overseas the entire compound would gather for food, fellowship and games. I'm telling you missionaries can be ruthless when playing Uno or Nertz!

My grandparents played games too. Both sets played 42 which I could never get the hang of. Mamaw (Dad's mom)taught me to play regular Dominoes but both sides played. I have inherited Mama & Papa's green domino set. I could never get the hang of Rook either. Dutch Blitz was a lot like Nertz (with regular playing cards)which I still enjoy today. Gin rummy and poker were added when I was in college.

We played all the classic board games too - Monopoly (my sister cheats), Life, Sorry, Scrabble, chess,  etc. As times and games changed we played the new games too - Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Risk (my mom kicked butt at that game), Taboo.

I spent nights playing games with friends while in college too. Being in a small town at a Southern Baptist school and the classic "good girl" there weren't a lot of options out there for wholesome entertainment.

One of my goals for 2011 is to institute a Family Game Night once a month. Charlie is almost 6 years old so our choice of games as a family are limited to things like Chutes and Ladders or Candyland right now. I'm thinking about picking the last Saturday or Sunday night of the month starting around 5-6pm. I know that's usually dinner time-ish but dinner that night could be pizza or snackage. Ultimately I would love for extended family to join in the fun and games.

Do you have a family game night? Or movie night? Did you have a family activity when you were growing up?

Elizabeth

@texasebeth  and My Life, such as it is....

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Nobody wants to be Ethel
Nobody wants to be Ethel 5 pts

My neighbors kids all have their own apartments but they keep coming around to play board games a couple of times per week. It looks like fun.

Patty

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Denise
Denise 11 pts moderator

We did not have family game night when I was a kid. My mom would sometimes play games with me and my brother and my dad could be coerced into playing Chess or Checkers sometimes, but mostly the kids played with each other.

Except when my grandmothers came to visit. Then we played cards. We being the women. I don't think my brother ever wanted to play...

They taught me to play rummy and Canasta and Kings on the Corners. I vaguely recall them trying to teach me to play Hearts but I never took to it.

I didn't do family game night with my kids, though I generally played with them whenever they wanted (and I had time.)

TW, on the otherhand, tried to enforce family game night on us quite a bit. Generally the little kids rebelled. RJ is not a good game player. She gets very grouchy. Elly likes games but can be a little clueless or a little bouncy. Prince J is generally ambivalent and plays til he isn't forced to play any longer.

Every now and then we found a game (or a moment in time?) when they enjoyed it. Like the time we went camping and took Slapbo (which is kind of like Uno) - they like slapping things so that was popular. A little too popular and I had to send them to their sleeping bags.

A few games like Zobmondo or Would You Rather tend to get props but only because we have a weird sense of humor and like disgusting things. Also we tend to not follow the rules and just have fun with the questions.

Wii games generally do well, though Elly is at the age where she doesn't want to play with us because we are MEAN.

We've stopped buying new games because we have a whole closetful that we never play. Sometimes I miss game night. Maybe I should try to force them into it this weekend. Right after we make our Family Bucket List...

Heh.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

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texasebeth
texasebeth 6 pts

I'm thinking about even including the Wii some months for a little variety but I really want to stick with the classic games.

Inviting friends over means more food but like you said, it will let you know more about who your kids are hanging out with. Plus it does make games more fun and competitive!

Elizabeth

@texasebeth ( http://twitter.com/texasebeth )  and My Life, such as it is.... ( http://texasebeth.blogspot.com )

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Grace@Haven
Grace@Haven 5 pts

one of Dannah Gresh's books the other day, and she is a firm believer in activities such as family game night. The more plugged in we are to time with our kids, the fewer opportunities there will be for them to choose a questionable activity.

We have a television for watching dvds only, which results in a lot less watching. We fill the balance of the time in with a lot of games. I really like your idea for game night with friends invited over, as that would give us an opportunity to get to know the kids' friends better.

Thanks for your post. :)

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