We have once again started family game night here at the Cheese Factory. Several attempts have been made in the past, but unfortunately like everything we do, we start off with a bang and end with a smoldering, and sometimes annoying, cloud of dust. In all reality, life takes over and 45 days into our "quest" to spend time together, we start to trip over lost game pieces embedded into the carpet left over like dinosaur fossils of game nights past.
As an example, last year after we bought our Wii, Friday nights became our game night. Moving helped as our social life had come to a screeching halt, so we instead spent our evenings virtual bowling or playing Cadoo and eating DIY homemade pizzas and steamed artichokes. You are thinking to yourself, "wow, that's odd, why would she mention artichokes?" "Or maybe even, your kids eat artichokes?" Well, I mention artichokes because they have now become our game night mascot, kids love them and every time we mention playing a game, Cheese will say "can we get an artichoke?" And yes, my kids will eat just about anything. This has great bragging rights only until we take them out to dinner and they get all high and mighty over the processed chicken nuggets, again. It's like that minced fish commercial. They are like, "mom, these probably aren't even made of real chicken, I would like a steak, can I get a filet like you? And I am all like, "well you too could afford a filet if you didn't squander your birthday money on a light up yo-yo and those two tubes of cherry shimmer chapstick you had to have from the Wal-Mart impulse lane. You know just because you see me spend money frivolously doesn't mean that you have to also. Now where did I put my travel size antibacterial lotion and my three pack of Slim Jim's?"
OK so I don't make my kids buy their own dinners. I do keep a running IOU and I figure by the time they get out of college and start a family that money owed will buy me a nice apartment above their garage, a rainbow of velour sweat outfits and a convertible BMW.
So back to game night, November 7,2009. Game of they night: Monopoly. Yes, I realize that Cheese is only six and Mac is just nine years old. But I was backed into a corner. I would have SO grabbed PAY DAY, but it wasn't an option. The truth of the matter is I didn't feel like gouging my eyes out with mini fishing rods, which I would have done if forced to play Fishin' Around with the kids, even though it was age appropriate. I would have gone with the creepy no face dude Pictionary game, but it was $31.97 and therefore a little more than I wanted to spend. Well actually a lot more than I wanted to spend because I still had to buy dinner and a couple of artichokes (see it all comes around). It was a mutual agreement in the end, with a little nudge in the right direction. Well more or less bribery, one with ice cream and the other with a drawing pad. I also picked up a lint brush and some 8 Hour Energy minis.
Some highlights:
Cheese landed herself in jail so Mac sold her her Get Out of Jail Free card for $686.00, or "one of each color of money". Cheese didn't care, she just wanted out and we didn't have the heart to tell her she made a horrible deal.
Mac on the other hand, kept counting her money over and over, rubbing it through her fingers. She was also the banker so I am not sure how many $100s slipped from the bank to her neatly manicured piles.
Cheese, kept stacking the dice, she really wanted to roll a six. Not sure why, so it will have to go into my mental book of strange things kids do for no particular reason.
She also kept saying "wow so many avenues, everything is an avenue."
Speaking of avenues instead of Virgina Avenue, The Big Cheese kept calling it Vagina Avenue, while chuckling quietly to himself.
Family fun time at it's best!
