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You can only watch TV for so long before you go crazy. I try to find other things to do with the kids. We love board games! Anything that's educational is my preference but I don't tell them it is LOL. Oldies like Scrabble are good. What do you do to keep them and you entertained?
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We love playing cards. I can remember my own family and aunties and uncles gathering at my Grandma's house on a Friday night to play. There was at least eight or nine adults around her kitchen table, all joking and arguing. We kids played in the spare room. Come to think of it they were probably doing the same as us and looking for a way to have some fun that was affordable.
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We try and have a movie night every other week. I get a couple of clearance DVD's and popcorn and we all settle down for the show. One movie is a kid's one which we all watch first and the other's for the adults for our quality time. There's weeks when money's a bit tighter and we only get one that's suitable for everyone but normally two. It's better than paying for all the movie tickets and the kiosk prices for popcorn and so on. Being together is what matters to me more than anything.
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Board games cause too many fights around here LOL. We do the movies and dig out old photo albums. The kids are still at an age where they're fascinated to see their grandparents when they were young and like to hear old family stories and laugh at my baby pics.
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We like quiz and trivia books which often find their way to the clearance shelves. I enjoyed Trivial Pursuit in its heyday and still drag it out the loft every now and then. Activities need to be ones that are black and white when it comes to right or wrong or it ends up with arguments which is why we go for quizzes. The trivia books we use to make up our own questions. Even a dictionary can be fun when you choose hard words and see who knows what it means. You can give multiple choices to make it not so tough.
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We've never been an activity type family. I brought up a household full of " I need quiet time" people. They all are happy to curl up with a book and some nights we're all on the sofa like a row of bookworms. Does that count when we're all doing our own thing but in the same room? I don't know. I suppose it does since we're together and happy to be in each others company.
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We've never been an activity type family. I brought up a household full of " I need quiet time" people. They all are happy to curl up with a book and some nights we're all on the sofa like a row of bookworms. Does that count when we're all doing our own thing but in the same room? I don't know. I suppose it does since we're together and happy to be in each others company.
I'd say it counts, definitely Savannah. Everyone's close by and I'm assuming you're each allowed to lift your head and say something if you want to. :) I totally understand quiet time as I need that myself some days. You're lucky you're all the same in that respect!
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I got a bargain at a flea market this week. It was a compedium in a steel tin that has seven games, with beautiful wooden boards. Backgammon, chinese checkers, chess, checkers, solitaire, pass out and mancala. I don't know how to play the last two yet but I'll learn! Guess how much I paid? Three bucks. :) Roll on winter!
The best thing we ever bought was a karaoke machine. The kids love singing and dancing around and it tires them out, giving us a quiet evening for the rest of the night. One or two hours of noise for the sake of three or four of peace is a fair price to pay. I think we paid about $30 for it three years ago. It's only a small tabletop one without fancy speakers or tape decks and the mic came with it as a promotional deal. We buy a new disc a few times a year which are under ten bucks to give them variety.
Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.
- Samuel Johnson