HOMEY DON’T PLAY, BUT WE DO!

HOMEY DON’T PLAY, BUT WE DO!

1. I know this title is ridiculous.
2. I may or may not have had to use Google to decide between homey and homie.
3. I LOVE this title anyway.

This summer has been a game filled summer.

We went to NY to visit family for two weeks. We played Uno, Go Fish, Dominion, Up and Down the River, Apples to Apples, and Ticket to Ride. My nieces came back to Virginia with us. We played Dominion, Furt, Clue, and Settlers of Catan. My nieces left, and my nephew from New Hampshire arrived. We have played Dominion, Furt, and Munchkins during his visit.

You get the point… a lot of hours were spent around dining room and coffee tables.

We play games because we are competitive and it’s fun (especially when I win), but we also play because it matters.

Some of my best memories are centered around decks of cards and fold out boards with plastic pieces. It is one of the many things I identified as a sign that I mattered to my parents and other family members. The busy moments of life were put on hold, and I was included in the fun, even though I was the baby.

Game time is amazing.

I don’t ask my kids to clean, do homework, or anything work related during games. They don’t ask anything of me either. It is a mutual reprieve.

I’d love to say we have deep, meaningful conversations that will alter the directions of their lives during these games.

We don’t.

We do practice how to barter, deal with small disappointments, win (and lose) with grace, make predictions, read people, think creatively, work together (to stop someone else from winning), and laugh.

The summer is winding down. Football season starts tomorrow, and ballet and school are just around the corner. There won’t be as much time to play together. However, I’m pretty sure the skills we practiced, sometimes late into the night, will be tapped into all year long.

Homey might not play, but we do.