I came home from work today and my 2 year old daughter grabbed my hand and walked me to a room where she had set up a game. She said to me, "Dad... do you wanna play RATTLE-SNAKE?" She tightens up her face and clenches her fists when she says "Rattlesnake." This was the 3rd day in a row that I had come home from work to find that my 2 year old had set up a game for us to play. WOW!

So, of course, I sat down and played. Halfway through the game, my 4 year old daughter walked in and said, "can I play?" Of course, each of us gave her two eggs and we continued to play. We finished two games of Rattlesnake and probably had as much fun trying to put it away as we had playing the game. It can be a challenge, especially for kids under 5, to get all of the magnets into the box insert without allowing them to attract to each other. It took about 10 minutes of giggling (yes, I was giggling too) to get the game put away.

And as soon as that one was put away, the 2 year old reached up into the cabinet and pulled out Max. They both spent a few minutes setting up Max and we were off. This game can be tough to win, but our rolls were pretty lucky this time around and we easily saved all 3 creatures with a cat treat to spare. Impressive!

In the last 4 days, I've played 8 games and 7 of them were brought to the table by my kids (Rattlesnake 4 times, Gulo Gulo, Chicken Cha Cha Cha and Max). The other was Puerto Rico with my mom, dad and brother on Mother's day. I have to say that, right now, this is a good life.

So, I see now that I am setting up my children to have the same gaming disorder that I have (that's okay with me though ) AND I now understand how my wife feels. She really enjoys the games but wouldn't want to play them 7 nights a week like I could (if I had the time). I like the kids games well enough (it's especially fun to see how much they enjoy them), but I'm not sure if I can handle 7 days a week. Awwwww... who am I kidding... of course I can handle that!

Thanks for sharing. I'm right there with you, man. Since last week, I've played enough Froggy Boogie to last a lifetime. Like you, however, I'm totally having a blast.

My daughter loves all the games on your list (Max, Gulo Gulo, Chicken Cha Cha Cha (the Dragontales version)) but we don't have Rattlesnake. Is it any good?

Is Rattlesnake any good? Well, as a "game" and "learning opportunity"... no. However, as a fun little exercise that makes everyone laugh... yes. I would say Max, Gulo Gulo and Chicken Cha Cha Cha are all better games that require some thought and decision-making for kids. Rattlesnake has a touch of that, but mostly it's silly and fun.

I forgot to tell one of the best parts of this story and part of the reason, I think, why we've played so much Rattlesnake lately. About 3 weeks ago, I took my 2 year old to the "game store" to see if they had a new game that I told her she might like and it was the day that we bought Rattlesnake. Since then, she has talked about that trip almost everyday. Everytime she brings out Rattlesnake, she says, "let's play the game from the game store." And, she usually spits out, "dad, remember when we went to the game store and bought RATTLE-SNAKE?"

She is even asking to go to the game store now... Gotta love it. My wife is heading out of town Friday so I have the day off and plan to take the 2 year old to the game store after dropping off the 4 year old at preschool.

Yep... I hear ya... they were on quite the Froggy Boogie kick when I first got it. They usually bring out Chicken Cha Cha Cha first now, which I think, for their age, is easier to play. Still, if my kids are going to be gung-ho about bringing out the games at this age then I ain't gonna stop them no matter what game comes out.

Soon she'll be ogling all those wood bits from Agricola: "Daddy can we play the horsey game again!!!"

You're right, it's really a terrible life to HAVE to play Max and Gulo Gulo all the time...

MJ

PS though there was a moment there when my oldest figured out that Max wasn't just playing tag...

Yeah, it'll be absolutely terrible when your daughters come back with A's because you taught them analytical skills at such a young age. Next you'll be reading to them! How terrible!


aka. Washu! ^O^

I'm so glad that you realize how good life is right now. I had so much fun when my kids were litte - we played games for probably 15 years. Of course we started with the fun silly games and had a blast, but as they got older we eventually played games like Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Caylus, TTR, Princes of Florence (they loved that one), Goldland, Formula De and many other games. Of course just being around the kids made those fun, silly games all worthwhile.

Now my 2 oldest (girls) are 16 and 18. Life is hectic and gaming is just about gone, however my 13 year old son and wife still play often. That's just to say; Cherish these memories.

Looks like you have a good 10-15 years of gaming ahead with your kids - enjoy them. I'm hoping eventually my daughters (and future husbands) will someday come back to gaming, but even if they don't I still have the wonderful memories.

Al

My kids were mostly on the amierican junk at that age. I still remember when they moved from candy land to clue jr. I was so happy. Clue jr is no PR but at least it wasn't as mind numbing as candyland. But when my twins were 8 and my son 6 I started them on carcasson within a year I had them on caylus and PR . Yes life can be good.

I did run into one problem my son could play board games every day and gets cranky if too many days go buy without a game. My twin girls are more like once a week gamers. Unless i take them to a con then they want to play non-stop. Still haven't figured that out. But my one daughter was being left out she didn't want to play as much and her sister and my son were playing two player video games together. So I finnaly broke down. yes I did the unspeakable... I taught them RPGs . I don't mean the computer version i mean dungeon screen, dice, minatures fully fleshed out characters. I choose gurps since that was my favorite and they took to it like crack. Every day for two weeks when I came home. Can we play gurps tonight! please daddy please.

My wife says I have doomed them to be geeks.

I am with you on this. My 11 year old loves Mad Libs Card Game and Game of Life so I play them (and other similar games) often and have for years. Recently she has taken to choosing Lost Cities and Carcassonne so the time spent playing "kids" games is begining to see pay-off.


And still... has its own pay-off of spending critical time with our children doing something up-lifting and positive (addiction issues aside ).

I can sympathize as I played a 2-header of Candy Land with my 7-year old this past weekend (and got KILLED both times BTW)!!

I think that kids will play the games you introduce them to. If we buy the Candy Land type games, that's what they will play. If we buy them more geek-like games, that is also what they will play.

My daughter begged to play when I finished my DIY of Caesar and Cleopatra. So, we played--with watered down rules--but we played. The final score was Caesar (me) 18 and Cleo 14. She enjoyed the game and wants to play again. I know that I will eventually be able to introduce the elements that we didn't use as she grows older.

She is also asking to play Risk, Freight Train, and Louis XIV. I know her limitations and need to be creative and not scare her off by playing the full blown version of many adult games.

For example: She HATED Carcassonne!! She found it boring and slow and left the game (of course, the biggest problem is my husband's extreme AP). But that experience has taught me to be shrewder in the ways I present a game to her.

One of the few bits of advice I give to Dads with daughters is this:

Whenever your daughter asks you to play a game with her - say yes. Even if it means stopping what you're doing. Your child wanting to play with you is one of the greatest compliments a Dad can ever receive.

One day - She'll stop asking.

Respectfully

Falloutfan.

My wife tells me I am turning my kids( 4 and 5) into mini geeks. I have also recently been called a transformer, geek in disguise as she thought my geeky game playing past was finished when we got married. Once a geek always a geek ;-)