Playing Games..

I was reading an interesting article about Gen Xer's, that people in my age group and a little older, late 20's - early 30's, that we are playing games more often. And we aren't talking GameBoy or Playstation either. Games such as euchre, dominoes, bingo, shuffleboard and such. The rise in the interest of these classic games is being blamed on the want to be home more often. That Gen Xer's are settling down.

I have always enjoyed games. We often played games as a family as kids and also often play them when I visit with my family. Whether it's classic Uno, 500 Rum, Trivial Pursuit or as children Candy Land, Uncle Wiggly (a classic!) or one of our fav's that is gone was Fire Ball Island (You got to send red marbles down gully's at your opponents and yell ""Fire-ball!" sending your opponent back on the board.

Games are a way to help connect with those you play with. You talk about a variety of topics, not just the game. For children it teaches them many skills, from counting to the importance of fair play - or in my sister Laura's case, how to cheat. And you aren't still around the TV silently watching a show or a movie. One of my favorite memories was playing Rummy with my college roommate Kathy. The tip-off one of us wanted to play? Saying this line from the Princess Bride, "You Killed my Father, Prepare to Die!" and it was on...There was NO mercy!

So I am glad to see some of my peers are moving away from the mind-numbing video games where they can shut everyone and everything out.

Anyone up for a rousing game of 99 or Trivial Pursuit? You know you want to? What's your favorite games out there?