Family Game Time—Day 1
Last weekend Husband announced that we were going to start structuring our evenings a bit more and spend more family time together. (What?! You mean I don’t get to watch you play Call of Duty anymore? Say it isn’t so!)
His plan: supper, then family game time, then family clean-up time, then bedtime. If this plan survives the first week, I’ll be one happy woman. But I’m not getting my hopes up quite YET.
So yesterday was Day 1 of the plan. Supper? Check. And I actually cooked after being stabbed with guilt when Boy #1 asked, “Can we have a real meal tonight, Mom?” Ouch. It was easy—chicken breast tenderloins and wild rice with cream of mushroom soup, along with a salad that I dumped out of a bag. But still . . . it fit the definition of “real meal” in our family.
After clearing the table off (which is still that little slanty-legged craft table from our basement after Husband stepped right through ours in a near-tragic “painting accident”), we got ready to play a game. Boy #3 kept insisting we play that game where you fling monkeys into a tree, but Husband made the executive decision that we would play Pictureka. If you haven’t played it, it’s a great game for families because you don’t have to be able to read (or in my case, do math) and it’s a lot of fun. Basically, you have to find pictures on these squares filled with tons of different graphics and images that fit a certain category or that match a card. Sometimes you’re on your own, and sometimes you go head-to-head with family members.
Of course, it’s not game night unless Mom is getting made fun of, and last night was no different. My anxiety works overtime during those head-to-head rounds, and I get so worked up that I can’t remember to yell out “Pictureka!” once I see something. Instead, I scream. I also scream whenever anyone else yells “Pictureka!” Basically, I just scream throughout the entire game. It’s almost as bad as when I play Perfection. That game is my nemesis. I swear one day I will actually go into cardiac arrest while anticipating when those stupid shapes are going to pop up. (Oh, and if you haven’t guessed, I don’t do Jack-in-the-boxes either. Especially if they involve clowns.) I always seem to give my family plenty of material to work with when it comes to making fun of me.
While Husband, Boy #1, Boy #2, and I played Pictureka, Boy #3, who was not to be deterred from playing the game he wanted to play, sat on the floor playing practice rounds of his monkey game, which then turned into using the dustpan as some sort of catapult for the monkeys as they flew through the air and fought each other. Because everything in our house eventually fights.
After two games of Pictureka (in which I won the first game, thank you very much!), I asked Husband to set up my new Your Shape Wii game so I could get ready for the Fun, Fit, and Guilt-Free House Party I’m hosting tonight. (And which I should really be cleaning for at this very moment.) I think I gave my ab muscles a good workout just from laughing at Husband as he tried to do the fitness test so he could set up his profile. It’s funny enough to watch him try to copy Jenny McCarthy’s avatar’s moves live, but since the game uses a camera as well, we also got to watch him on the screen. Which was superhilarious until it was my turn to do the fitness test, and I found out how hard it was to get the moves right. Oh, and also until I peed my pants doing the jumping jacks. I’m pretty sure Jenny’s avatar didn’t pee HER pants during that portion of the test. Dang kids, look what you’ve done to your mom!!
So after I completed my fitness test and I went upstairs to change my pants, it was bedtime. I’m not saying it went without a hitch, but it was a bit easier than it usually is. (Except for the fact that Boy #3 STILL won’t go to bed in his own bed.)
Tonight’s game will probably be Wii Bowling since we’ll already have the Wii warmed up for my party. After that? Not sure, but we own about a gazillion board games, so we should be able to rotate them enough so we never get bored. That is, if we make it past the first week . . .
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Image courtesy of NickF
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Hopefully it will last more than a week. 🙂
Since AD turned 5 last week hubby said he can no longer sleep in our bed because he is a big boy. So far so good but I feel your pain.
We are soul sistas! We've been doing this too – family dinner, then pjs, then game night. My boyz are addicted to Bingo. The old-fashioned kind that elderly people play. We got it for Christmas and it's a big hit. Except I keep finding the damn chips everywhere!
DD#2 got Pictureka for Christmas and we have played is MANY times….until 2 days ago DD#1 has been undefeated. DH broke her winning streak. She is determined to regain her title. Perfection does it for me too! Love the structured family night idea, we need to get back to that, especially during our "slow" period in the winter before spring softball begins. Thanks for the inspiration!
Talked to #1 a couple of times and I asked him who is funniest during game time…and he said his Mother…because she gets all shook up 🙂
Keep up the good work, Dear.
I bought Dance Party for wii after playing it at your house. The girls love it! We play as a family in the evening. It's great because we are up & moving. Plus it's so fun!
Sooooo, you have the same problem w/ Call of Duty!!! Family game night sounds fun. Hope it continues for y'all.
You need trivia games–they're loaded with stuff you know that the kids can't possibly know. They are perfect for getting that little grinch into your children. How is it that you could not know that???