By Jennie Busker LCPC
In the spirit of staying in, saving money and not hiring a babysitter, I offer up Game Night Without Screens!
Like most of us, we have game night most nights, I am on my phone apps connecting dots or making burgers and french fries while my husband is racing cars or popping sweet wheelies on his phone. We each fall into our own worlds and struggle to come out of the daze for some time. If someone took a picture of us at 10pm on a Tuesday, I’d start to worry that we had turned into the couple that is in the same room, but for sure in a different reality. That said, I do think that it is important to have time when your mind can shut down for a few after a long day. But lord knows the games last longer than a few minutes if my brain feels like Malt-O-Meal afterwards. My worry is that this type of behavior quickly becomes habit and almost second nature in my home and the couples that I see. This addiction to online games often cuts out checking in with your partner about their day, spending time with the kiddos and allows for a fly by evening in the most banal of ways. Yes, we have all turned into lame-os.
My alternative to another drab evening of detachment involves delicious drinks, finger foods and quality fun time with your good looking partner. The date is set up like this!
Put the kids (or your four legged kids) to bed and clean off your kitchen table.
Set you Spotify or iTunes to a fun channel. I like 90’s hip hop and my husband prefers 70’s classic rock, so we take turns dJing.
Create a simple cheese board with a couple hunks of brie and manchego, water crackers and olives. As an alternative, place fancy potato chips (the kind you always want but are too expensive for regular snacking) in a colorful bowl and cut up a sumptuous bar of chocolate (again, the super fancy kind that you never buy but totally want to) on a small plate. So easy.
Now for the drinks! I recommend a mocktail for my couples. Say what? In my sessions, I have found that alcohol is often the gateway to arguments and hurt feelings. Of course, if this is not an issue with your sexy loved one then I suggest keeping the booze down to one or two glasses. For the mocktail, I recommend trying either this Cucumber and Mint “Fauxjito” or this Ginger Basil Grapefruit Mimosa. Yum.
Now it is game time! These are my favorites to play with one other person- Bananagrams, Mastermind, Mexican Train Dominoes, Yahtzee, Dutch Blitz, Uno, Scrabble and Boggle! These games are easy to learn and super engaging.
Remember, winning is not everything!
Enjoy your fetching partner!