Last night, my husband and I sat
down for five minutes on the couch together, our eyes mirroring the shared despair of a family night gone awry. Actually it was probably more of a... falling down on the couch, both of us ill equipped to move limb or brain any further along the path of Parental Responsibility. Let's just say
it wasn't a shining moment for the family history books.
Aiming for some quality time together, we had
attempted a game of Parcheesi with our two children. It felt like a coup when we were finally able
to lure our 9 year old son to a game that didn't have a screen. Our 8 year old daughter, who loves games, jumped in, and the potential for "fun had by all" was looking pretty darn good. Unfortunately, our best intentions quickly flew by the wayside when the
game erupted into a battleground of carelessly tossed dice knocking over pawns,
bickering, and mixed-up turns, ultimately becoming an exercise in frustration.
Today my husband rated our family game night as the second nastiest in his life...er, right up there under an ill fated Monopoly game from his past, in which he said everyone nearly came to blows. And, that was with um...grown-up people. What IS it about games that often brings out the worst in families?
We all have bad days as a parent, and as a family. When those days fall on the weekend, our children's return to school on Monday morning can be a real cause for celebration. Sometimes, you just have to shout from the mountain top: Hallelujah, Monday has risen! Our children have gone back to school today! Praise secondary education! Amen, brothers and sisters... Amen...indeed.
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My former almost mother-in-law is highly competitive. She's descended from an adept alcoholic poker player so she came by it mostly honestly. She is not above hiding a piece of a puzzle so that she gets to finish it. Once her son and I brought a geographical board game that was new to us on our vacation with his family. I figure when your mother-in-law has to remove herself from the game in order to keep her cool it's a pretty unsuccessful and highly tense family game night.
ReplyDeleteI am very competitive and adore games, but I never lose sight of the fact that games are supposed to be fun. Under the "it gets better files," we are doing game night tonight for Mother's Day and I'm pretty sure there will be only laughter, no tears.
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