My family doesn't know it yet, but we're spending Sunday evening playing a board game.
Don't tell my kids, but we're going to spend Sunday evening playing Apples to Apples, a new game I just picked up at Target. They'll moan and groan, but they'll put their behinds into a dining room chair after dinner and play the game with me. By the end of the night, they'll be not only glad I made them play, they'll want to do it again.
Last weekend I chaperoned a neighborhood teen group social and some kids were playing Apples to Apples and I absolutely fell in love with the game. It's easy, fun, silly, and the most addicting game since Pictionary.
Games are coming back in families. Tired of noisy electronics, more families are turning off the TV, getting back to basics, and opening a box or some cards and playing together.
We used to play more games together when my kids were younger. We still have well worn boxes repaired with masking tape and rubber-banded together of Monopoly, Facts In Five, Dominoes, Chutes and Ladders, Masterpiece, Battleship, Trivial Pursuit and other classics. And we have some fad games, too, like Jumanji, which I could never get, and Ask Zandar, complete with a talking wizard in a crystal ball.
Over the years, we've gotten away from board games. But that's all going to change on Sunday, when, after dinner dishes are done, I'm going to whip out Apples to Apples and say, "Who wants to play a game?" That will probably be followed by, "Oh, yes you do," "Get over here," "Hey! Unlock that door!" and "You'll play this game and like it, or you're grounded!"
Nah, they'll play. We'll have a great time and before you know it, they'll be putting new batteries in Zandar.
