Family Game Night . . .

The perfect family board game is one that can be played each time with fewer pieces.

~Robert Brault

We tend to play board games under two circumstances: when our whole family gathers for any celebration and we break them out for a night of hilarious competition; and during blizzards, when the power is out and there is nothing better to do.  Both are perfect times to dust off relics of simpler times—Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk and the like.

Our cupboard holds stacks of classic games – a few favorites dating back to my childhood. Pieces and directions are often missing, but little is better than seeing the yellowing scorecards of games past. I grew wistful once at the sight of a slip of paper that recalled an afternoon Yahtzee marathon many years ago in which I most certainly annihilated my sister.

The longest gaming marathons I was part of involved a game of Monopoly one summer that went on for 12 hours – through one afternoon and into the wee hours of the following morning. My girlfriends and I were all so giddy from lack of sleep by then that the littlest thing would set off jags of laugher. Tears rolling down our cheeks, holding our sides kindof laughter.

Stacks of classic games hide in every home on a bookshelf or in the basement and they can turn a blustery night indoors into the stuff of memories. So whip up a snack and rally the gang for a classic family game night - an evening of laughter and play awaits.