Let's play a game?! Are you kidding me? Don't the editors of The Homeschool Minute™ know how busy I am? We just pulled into the driveway after being gone ALL weekend at a family camp in hilly Pennsylvania.

I have tons to do, including writing this brilliant, little article that will minister to untold . . . dozens. I have emails to write, speaking arrangements to work on, products to produce, and gobs of other IMPORTANT stuff to do!!

Games take time . . . my time. Playing a game means stopping what I'm doing, setting it up, listening to my kids' incessant giggling as they make up their own rules, refereeing their bickering, and dealing with the nagging feeling that I should be getting something done instead.

It doesn't help when I see my wife, who is way better than I am, sitting on the floor in the midst of her busy day playing a game with our youngest. I just can feel the guilt being heaped on my busy head.

I've got to get this all done or nobody will!!!

Can I hear an AMEN?! You're busy too, right? Don't have time for games either, right? After all, if we stopped in the middle of our busy day to play a game with our children nothing would get done . . . except what really matters, right? Sigh.

I hate it when I'm right.

I'll make a deal with you. As soon as you finish reading this email (which just showed up in my inbox too), let's both stop doing all the "important" stuff we're doing and play a game with all the really IMPORTANT people in our house who would love a little mom and dad time? Deal?

Be real,

Todd

Dear Friends,

What memories does the word "game" evoke for you? Perhaps it was the suspense of playing hide-and-go-seek with other children in your neighborhood, or the thrill of competition in the watermelon-spitting contest. You might remember pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey or break the candy-filled pi�ata at birthday parties. Was it days of Risk or Axis and Allies, hours of Monopoly or Scrabble, or minutes of Twister or Candy Land?

For me, as I look back through my life, I remember games of Red Rover with schoolmates, checkers with teachers, singing in minor 2nds with a musical friend, the Ugly Face game with co-workers, alphabetical world geography mind benders with my husband, and Pass the Pigs with my kids. There were word games, outdoor games, musical games, athletic games, strategy games, water games, games purchased, games followed, and games we made up on the spot.

All this is to say that you don't have to limit yourself (or your children) to one kind of game. And, in fact, during the summer, think about how your family might take advantage of fresh air and sunshine--playing games outside!

And, FYI, you don't have to wrack your brains to find a game that might be enjoyable. You just look at your kids and see what they care about, notice what they enjoy. Ask them what they would like to do, and then, let the games begin!

Go ahead. Enjoy it!!!

And, remember, stay relational.

Diana