The pace of our world has become one of instant information, continuous stimulation, and overlapping schedules. Now more than ever, our calendars are booked to the point to where family dinner is a ritual of the past, and the word patience is only used to describe something I lack when dealing with my children.
Even our children's day is nonstop. They go from school, to lessons, to sports, and to homework. In between they fit in e-mails, text messages, videogames, and reading (with prodding). The quest to spend quality time with my sons began to consume me. Since I couldn't be with them for the majority of their day, how could I maximize our time spent together? One solution - board games.
I first introduced board games to my kids when they were very young. We played Checkers, Candyland, and Chutes & Ladders. We laughed and played for hours. Those sweet memories remain forever burned into my brain. As they grew older, became more independent and interested in other things, board games inadvertently disappeared from our routine. As preteens, I thought board game days were over. Then one day, the revelation came, almost by accident.
I was shopping for a present one of my boys needed for a birthday party. This was during the era of gift giving rather that gift card giving. I came across the game Risk. Only this was not the Napoleonic era Risk I remembered. This Risk box was adorned with clone troopers and battle droids. It was a Star Wars version. I thought to myself, now, what kid doesn't like Star Wars? Even I'm a closet Star Wars fan having grown up in the 1970's. I decided to buy it, and the rest is history.
Although, we don't have a set night or time, we do play with regularity. We now own and have played a variety of games, but I've listed our current three favorites (in no particular order):
Risk
Star Wars Clone Wars Edition - The classic game of world domination. My oldest son likes to amass his armies on one territory (like, I used to), and then proceed on a long, scorched- earth campaign.Clue
It's Elementary . . .One of the best. Each person has a different investigative technique, but no single method dominates as the winner usually rotates amongst all the players.Backgammon
It's hard to believe something as simple as the world's oldest board game could capture the fascination of another generation of mankind, but 5000 years can't be wrong.
There are Honorable Mentions that will likely return to our top three depending on our moods, such as Life, Yahtzee, Checkers, and Pictionary Junior.
The reintroduction of board games into our relationship with our children has been what my wife and I needed. These games allow us to compete, play, laugh, talk, and most importantly bond. It is triumphant for my youngest son to solve the murder mystery before the rest of the family, or an exhilarating right of passage for my teenage son to legitimately beat his father at anything. Even though board games bring out my sons' natural competitive nature, no matter who wins the actual game, it is my wife and I who are the winners.
