Reading through my old parenting posts, I realized something that made me cringe. It looks like we were always disciplining our kids, always getting them in line, always saying no.
But that's not the whole story.
The truth is, we had a ton of fun as parents. Our family dynamic was incredibly positive and playful. We genuinely enjoyed each other's company - movie nights, adventures, international travel, skiing, and even a 6-week Normandy trip crammed in a camper van. Just the four of us in a tin can on wheels.
The kids would tell you it was the best time ever.
Why Family Game Time Gets Overlooked
Parenting blogs (including mine) spend so much time discussing challenges and solutions that we forget the good stuff. The fun stuff. The moments when everyone's laughing so hard they can't breathe.
But playing together as a family? That's where the magic really happens.
Our Family Game Night Philosophy: Throw Out the Box Rules
We became a board game family early on, and here's what worked: we completely ignored most "rules" about how games should be played.
Creating Our Own House Rules
Take Monopoly. We played it constantly, but over years, we adjusted it to work better for our family. Some cards were repurposed, and we completely changed tax calculations.
This wasn't unique to Monopoly. If we played a game and decided a rule was too harsh, wasn't fun, or seemed stupid, we changed it. This became our "house version" of whatever we were playing.
Later, we bought Kiyosaki's Cash Flow game. We found it incredibly educational and discussed it extensively during and after playing. It genuinely influenced how we see money and shaped how our kids think about financial freedom.
Bending More Than Just Game Rules
Game time was also a chance to bend regular house rules. Disrespect to parents wasn't condoned during regular family life. But when playing games, we all stepped away from traditional parent-child roles.
You could be snide. You could be cheeky with your parents because you were just playing a game. The usual formalities relaxed, and everyone could engage as more equal players rather than family hierarchy.
Box rules were just starting points - for games and for family dynamics during play.
Age Recommendations Are Just Suggestions
Those ages on the box? Gentle recommendations. If the box said ages 5-10 and my 3-year-old wanted to play with his older brother, we let him. If he wanted to play differently than what was written, that was sometimes okay.
The key: if his playing style disrupted the rest of us actually playing, we wouldn't play with him in that moment. But we wouldn't punish him or stop him from playing his own version either.
The "He Left Them at Home" Moment
I have to share this story because it perfectly captures why playing together creates incredible family memories.
My husband and youngest son were playing Guess Who? Each picked their mystery person and started the usual questioning. Eventually, my husband narrows it down and says confidently, "Okay, your person is John."
But remember - little son couldn't read yet. Dad had to show him which face was John.
"No, it's not John. It's Michael," my son says, pointing to a completely different face.
My husband looks at the Michael card and says, "But son, Michael doesn't have glasses. You said your person has glasses."
Without missing a beat, my 4-year-old looks him straight in the eye and says, "Yes, he does. He left them at home."
The logic was flawless. The creativity was incredible. We still laugh about it years later.
What Playing Together Actually Teaches Kids
Beyond obvious family bonding benefits, engaging in shared tasks allows family members to connect and understand each other on deeper levels, reinforcing trust, appreciation, and affection.
Creativity trumps rigid rule-following. When kids feel safe to bend rules creatively (like glasses left at home), they're learning to think outside the box and find multiple solutions to problems.
Flexible thinking creates better memories than perfect compliance. Sure, we could have insisted on playing Guess Who? "correctly." But then we would have missed some of the most creative thinking I've ever witnessed.
Family fun doesn't need to follow a rulebook to be perfect. Some of our best family memories come from games that went completely off the rails. As long as the family is having fun and laughing together, it's perfect exactly as it is.
Games That Actually Worked for Our Family
Board Games with Staying Power
Monopoly was our constant companion. We created house rules - some cards did different things than originally intended, and we completely overhauled tax calculations.
Settlers of Catan solved our biggest family gaming problem: burnout. Usually, one of us would figure out a winning strategy, teach the others, and the game would become boring. But Settlers' design makes each round completely different, keeping our interest for years.
Guess Who? provided endless entertainment, especially when creative interpretations were allowed.
Card Games for Every Occasion
We built a travel survival kit around card games. Whist and Canasta became family staples. UNO was our go-to portable game, though we played with modified rules that worked better for our family dynamics.
Educational Games That Actually Taught Us
Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Game was incredibly educational. We discussed it extensively, and it genuinely influenced how we approach money and financial decisions. More importantly, it shaped how our kids think about financial freedom.
Other games we played extensively include Citadels and Avalon - both excellent for families who enjoy strategy and mystery.
The Game Burnout Problem (And How Settlers Solved It)
As a family, we had a major issue with game burnout. One of us would figure out a winning strategy, teach it to the others, and suddenly the game would become boring.
But Settlers of Catan has ingenious design that makes each round completely different. The board changes, resource distribution changes, and strategies that worked last time might not work this time. This maintained our interest for years - something that rarely happened with other games.
Making Time for Fun as a Family
Structure and discipline are important. I stand by everything I've written about consistency. But if that's all we're doing as parents, we're missing the joy.
Your family's identity shouldn't just be about rules and consequences. It should also be about laughter, creativity, and the kind of inside jokes that last for decades.
The Permission to Have Fun
If you're thinking "but we have so many other things to work on with our kids," I get it. There's always something needing fixing, addressing, or improving.
But here's what worked for my family: making time for pure fun gave us a foundation of connection that made all the other parenting stuff easier. When your kids genuinely enjoy spending time with you, they're more likely to listen when you need serious conversations.
The discipline and boundaries matter. But so does the laughter.
So tonight, maybe grab a deck of cards. Or dust off that board game sitting in the closet. Don't worry about playing it perfectly.
Just play.
What games have created the best memories in your family? Share your favorite family game moments in the comments - especially the times when things went hilariously off-script!
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