Board Games

I've always said that my children don't like board games. When our home flooded this summer, the only thing completely destroyed was the last unpacked box- full of board games. I figured it wasn't a big loss. Afterall, we hadn't missed them enough to unpack them. It was a collection of random games full of cartoon characters and too many pieces to keep track of.

When people started asking what we wanted for Christmas, and I had no idea, I remembered our little loss, and pointed them in the direction of board games. One of my boys got a wooden box that contains 12 of the classic games, including chess, checkers, parcheesi, chinese checkers, etc. An amazing thing has happened- they play them.

It's interesting to me that when we toss out the gadgets, the electronics, the silly cartoon characters and the games so boring to parents we won't play them, the kids will play. These are games I can handle sitting through a game, and they stretch my kids' minds. I don't think that moms should always torture themselves through tedious games. It will send the message to kids that grown-ups don't like games, and it will bore the mother to tears. We are to enjoy what we do, not just endure.

Come into my house, and the TV may be on, but most eyes are on the parcheesi game or the checker board. There aren't many TV shows we can sit through as a family, but even my toddler enjoys family game night now.