I’m a geek

Mar 05

Posted by: Scott in: blog, caleb isaiah, clever toys, family, games, me myself and i, parenting

No really. I’ve had my nose stuck in BoardGameGeek.com for over a week now! Researching games. Looking at pictures of games. Reading about games. Pricing games. I didn’t know so many games existed. It really puts the Walmart and Target aisles to shame. My new favorite company is Haba (hint: on many of their games, you can read the entire instruction manual, English instructions will be second, you’ll see what I mean by originality). They are German (European toys are always better anyway. And prettier. And they have to meet higher safety standards!). The Haba games are gorgeous. Original. Top notch quality. Many are just beyond adorable. I challenge you to find cuter turtles.

Twiddle Beach Turtle

Twiddle Turtle

Or cuter wolverines (gulo gulo) for that matter.

Some people just really don’t like board games. Scott can be one of them. Can they be tedious to play with children? At times, of course! But the value, to me, is well worth any bit of frustration on my part. But being selective about your games can limit the amount of times that you wish to poke your eyeballs out during play *cough Candyland cough cough* (you’re reading an online blog, so go ahead and resign yourself to buying games online as well). Thats where the Board Game Geek site comes in. There are thousands of people on there who have already been the guinea pigs for you. They will tell you every aspect of the game play, how they felt about it as a parent, how their kids seemed to react, in depth descriptions that sometimes rival reading the directions that came with the game! A game may not only come prepackaged with educational value (yes, educational games can be great fun!), but also teaches children about taking turns, patience, cooperative efforts, friendly competition, and following instructions (you can bend the rules a little for the little ones, encourage them to play by the rules, but don’t make a huge issue about it if they don’t. Let their little imaginations roam a bit). Many games build dexterity and motor skills, many build vocabulary, but most importantly, you’re spending quality time with your child. You are more than likely sitting on the floor down at their level. You are watching them accomplish goals, learn from setbacks and enjoy time with you.

I would much rather be running out of storage room in the game cabinet or closet than DVD storage any day. Besides, Baby Einstein kinda weirds me out! Not saying I haven’t been down that road in the past, but what is the first thing that comes to mind when you see one of those DVDs? Hmm, wonder what this would be like high? You can’t decide whether those movies were made for babies or stoners!

In unrelated news, our unit blocks are soon to be on the way. She asked me how I planned to store them (I worked at Papa Johns, I’m familiar with the term upsale!). I told her that my husband had been commissioned to build a shelving unit for blocks and books. I’m really excited to see what Caleb will do with them. The other night when we went to Lowes, he entertained himself by building towers out of sanding blocks. Now if my kiddo just didn’t have a memory that rivals an elephant, I could begin to weed out some of the more annoying toys. Even the ones he plays with once in a blue moon. Some day, three or four months down the road, he will be looking for that toy. And he will pester the ever living snot out of me to find it.

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