We went for a drive the other day to see the Fall colors. My husband and I began playing a word game where the first person would name something he\/she saw. Taking the last letter of that word, the next person would have to see something that started with that letter and on it would continue.<\/p>\n
We had agreed to the rules beforehand and were having a pleasant and enjoyable time, when the two children (ages 16 and 24) who came along for the drive, wanted to join in. Of course we included them, but what was once a relaxing, pleasant game turned into a debate! They began to try to change the rules and argued why it should be the way they wanted.<\/p>\n
Questions like, \u201cCan the word be in a different language? Can it be an adjective? A mountain contains an \u201cecosystem\u201d and I can see a mountain, so why can\u2019t \u201cecosystem\u201d count?\u201d On and on the debates raged and we did what any kind, loving set of parents would do. We kicked them out of the game (not the car, just the game).<\/p>\n
Getting through a family game with everyone happy has been a challenge for our family for years! What I once thought was a problem of differing ages and personalities, I later realized was the problem of losing sight of the original purpose.<\/strong> I had always intended the games to unify and strengthen family relationships. I loved the idea of creating memories that we would look back on with joy. Yet, all too often we would get caught up in frustrations, misunderstandings and impatience and the original goal of strengthening relationships seemed to dissolve into the stomping off in tears (and that wasn\u2019t just the children) .<\/p>\n