Amy N Kaplan

When my kids were younger we had family game night. My youngest son, Josh, liked to play Scattergories. The other kids were fine with that… until the letter “P” was rolled. Everyone would groan, roll their eyes and sigh because we knew what Josh was going to put down for EVERY answer. He’d giggle and write the same body part word on every line. Every now and then one of his siblings would write the same word, just so he couldn’t get a point for his answer. Fun times.

My eldest, Jen, was a bit of a Disney buff and knew the stories and characters backwards and forwards. Their favorite game at the time was Disney Scene It. No one could beat them in the game. We had to retire the game when no one would play with Jen any more because of how good they were.

All of the kids and I also play World of Warcraft. We’ve gone on countless adventures together and will continue to play together for years to come. The best part is that we don’t have to be in the same house to play with each other. We just hook up headphones and the playing and laughing begins! Josh is constantly wanting to duel me in this game… and when I relent I usually lose the duel. (I really suck at PVP.) I’m happy to report that I actually beat him ONCE and have refused to duel with him since. (I wanted to finish on a high note.)

We also loved to play Balderdash. The answers these kids could come up with were amazing! The name “Eric Baldwin” was one of the choices. The older kids put, “Brother of Alec Baldwin” but not Josh. Josh put, “The inventor of sheep.” I couldn’t help myself… I laughed when I read his answer. Although we all knew it wasn’t true, his answer got the most votes. Not one of us can remember what the correct answer is… but if you say the name Eric Baldwin we all immediately associate it with sheep.

Skip ahead several years. We’re still playing games together. Two of the kids have graduated and have jobs. I transferred to a new branch and was meeting the other staff members. “…and this is our personal banker, Eric Baldwin.” I tried so hard not to giggle or laugh! The “inventor of sheep” worked at the same branch as me. I apologized for the giggle and explained it away as nervousness.

That night at dinner we were all talking about our days when one of the kids asked me about my new job. They wanted to know if I liked the people I was working with. I told them how nice they all were and said I’d love for them to come in and meet everyone. They were excited and Jen said they’d bring everyone in after school the next day.

The kids arrived and I introduced them to everyone… leaving Eric for last. We walked over to his desk and I introduced him to my family. Josh made a sheep sound. Eric squinted at him and asked why he had done that. Josh was now giggling like crazy and said, “Cause you invented sheep.” I explained the family game night and how “Eric Baldwin” was sort of a celebrity in our home due to Josh’s answer. Eric smiled and told Josh that obviously the correct answer was “Eric Baldwin is a personal banker with a GREAT sense of humor.”

The kids are all grown now and only Jen lives at home with me. My youngest daughter, Mary, lives in Tennessee with her own family. The two boys, Josh and Chris, are in Kentucky. When they come to visit we still play games. Mary’s boys, Leo and Al, are now beginning to play games with us so the tradition continues. I look forward to creating memories with my grandsons that the family can giggle about for years to come.

Author’s note: I have a rather extensive game library. We’ve played lots of games together; I just chose to mention a few of them here.