Playing games provides something remarkable to the people involved in playing together.  Normally I apply this line of thought to my four children.  They learn cooperation, grace, creative rule making, rule following, and a myriad of other skills while playing card games, board games, pencil and paper games, you name it and they are encouraged to play it!

But, it never fails… I consistently forget that the rules I apply in my parenting also apply to my other relationships.  My husband and I both have a ton of responsibilities and on top of that we each have our own interests and hobbies, so when we do have that rare evening to spend together we often just plop down to watch a movie together.  Basically, it’s easy and neither of us has to think much to hang out in front of the screen.  We do enjoy these movies, but it leaves no time for finding that real human connection I usually needed at the start of the evening.

Last summer though, something interesting happened on our yearly vacation.  My husband, B, and I were camping with the kids and they were (gasp!)  all tucked into an early bed at the campsite.  My book was in the locked car and I didn’t feel like going digging for it, but I remembered that I had thrown a word game into our travel bags during the last minute packing. We decided to play while we sat by the fire.  GAMES!  Why had I forgotten how fun it could be to play them with the person I love most in this world?

We talked and played, laughed at our ridiculous word choices, we talked about other things as the game progressed and just let the night unfold.  It seems silly now, but over the winter we both forgot that easy, light hearted connection we had felt during our game nights until we went camping again this summer.  Back at home again now, I’m not packing away the games and I even bought a couple of new ones to add to the choices.  I didn’t realize how much we’d still be learning about each other together after ten years of marriage, and I’m grateful we can gain a bit more over the top of a game board a couple of times a week.

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