Bored games anyone? I think not
We have had a mild winter this year but generally speaking, once football season is over and before March Madness begins, there’s nothing like an inside game to help keep our minds sharp when it’s cold outside.

At our house, no major holiday is complete without a board or card game and we take them seriously. We have friendly family competition but we don’t coddle anyone.

My in-laws are sticklers for following the rules with little variation.  My father-in-law generally appoints himself as the final judge for disputes and keeps a printed version of rules nearby for easy reference. 

That’s if those rules are available. Some of our games are many years old and for games like Monopoly that have little game pieces, we’re lucky if everything is still intact. We have been known, in a pinch, to substitute sturdy pasta pieces or vanilla wafers, anything so the game can go on.  Some of those printed rules are long gone.

Games have helped my wife and me each through some rough patches.

In the spring of 1998, a few months after we moved here and when our oldest was just starting baseball at Crockett Park, I was sitting at one of his practices one night and heard a lady behind me say to the lady next to her, “Do you play Bridge?” 

When her friend answered yes, I spun around and said boldly, “My wife plays Bridge!”   I knew that she greatly missed playing with a group of friends back in Arkansas who had started playing together right out of college.

Within a couple of weeks one of the ladies at the baseball field called her to fill in.  Before long a regular foursome was formed.

They still play today. A card game helped my wife through a lonely time and built lasting friendships.

For me, social situations sometimes make me feel awkward and game playing is one of the ways I become more comfortable.

I believe in being creative with playing games. Cards and game boards should not restrict us. For example, there is nothing like an enthusiastic round of Charades to warm up any gathering. An imagination is all that’s required.

We used to play the “Dictionary Game” with a group of friends.  One person opens a dictionary (the only required item), finds an obscure word and reads three different definitions, only one of which is the correct one.  Other players are charged, of course, with picking the one that’s correct. Trust me – it is fun and hilarious.

Homemade versions of old TV game shows can be a riot, as evidenced by a recent gathering at our house with seven other couples who played The Newlywed Game (even though everyone had been married upwards of 25 years). If you are old enough, you might recall this borderline corny classic that I remember well from my childhood.

The host would first ask questions of wives while their husbands were in a sound-proof booth. The husbands would return and answer the same questions. Points were awarded based on numbers of answers that matched. The process was repeated with husbands being asked the questions with the wives absent.

In our recent home version, I served as emcee and my wife kept score, loosely following the TV game format, even writing the answers on small poster boards.  About eight questions (and a few bottles of wine) later, we were all laughing to the point of tears.

Wives who would have bet their lives that their husbands preferred the beach to the mountains were aghast to learn that their husbands just go to appease them. Likewise, husbands who would have said under oath that their second child was born on a Tuesday were shocked to learn there was not a Tuesday’s child in their brood. (1980s calendars were consulted after the fact for verification).

The winning couple, recipients of a Sweet Cece’s gift card, came from behind after a scoreless first round to ace the second-round questions, 25-point bonus question and tie breaker.

So, all you wives out there, what would your husband do on his first day of retirement? Go fishing, read a book or leave for an extended vacation?

And husbands, where was your first vacation with your sweetie, other than your honeymoon?

Think hard. Your spouse’s answer might surprise you.