family night

Tonight is family night at the Pines.  We have kept a night aside a week for about ten years now - and most weeks it works out. We do not have any meetings, or activities, or people over, or TV (I have to record the Amazing Race).  It has swapped nights over the years depending upon other commitments, but we have tried really hard to make it happen.

What does happen on family night is everyone is home, I make a slightly fancier dinner - tonight it is chicken pie from the Donna Hay book - and we have dessert.  We don't have dessert on other nights even if you finish your dinner, and we do have dessert on family night, even if you don't finish your dinner.  And we have games.

We have inducted our children into the rituals of playing boardgames and card games together.  I remember holding cards up for Gab when she was only 18 months old as we were teaching her to play Uno.  Just in the last year they have moved onto playing more complex games like Settlers and Ticket to Ride.  I think games have taught my children a lot of skills - like taking turns, losing well, strategic thinking and having fun together.

We also do a family devotion (at the moment this is great because church have done a family devotion booklet that fits in with the weekly theme), and Chris and I have time to talk and pray together.  Big decisions have happened on family nights - like renovations and changing jobs and buying puppies.

The girls really look forward to family night, and get disappointed if it is cancelled for some reason.  I really look forward to it and intend to keep going with it right until they leave home.  It is good to set aside time at least once a week where we have no other interruptions.

We are working on not just having no TV, but having no screen time on family night.  Which reminds me, I should stop blogging and go and talk with my family.