Growing up with Games!

Upon reading the article about "Plan a Family Game Night", I recalled the game nights (and days) with my family during my growing up years. Truly a great family-bonding time... and with friends and relatives too!

Monopoly was a must-have! We played games like Risk, Scrabble, Boggle and many other board games. When we visited our relatives down south in Batu Pahat, we would have tonnes of games to play with. My cousin had uncountable board games, card games & computer games. His house was like a game store (and music store... and pet shop!!!)! Hehe... Well, those were the days. I was actually the quiet one who "had fun" in my heart (hehe...). I was just an observer then. My bro & sis age were just 1 year apart and they and my cousins were all almost the same age (same wave length)... I was like the "left-out" one... the youngest and the stickiest to mummy! But yeah, I remembered those days... It was kinda fun! :)

Back in my hometown, Malacca... it was fun during our growing up years, as we played a lot and flunked a lot too! What "balance"!! :p My playtime with my school-mates (and neighbours) during the evenings were normally "masak-masak" - with different colored sand and grass and leaves, "batu seremban" (five stones), "teng-teng", "rubberband", stationeries-turned-to-family "make-belief" toy... wah... just thinking of it really made me miss those wonderful childhood days... *day-dreaming* :)

There was a mixture of all kinds of games played - from board games, to mind-boggling games, to traditional games like "congkak" and "chapteh", to sports like ping-pong and badminton. I enjoyed the time spent with my sis on congkak. We modified our congkak by using color palletes (replacing the congkak board) and one-cent coins (replacing the guli or seashell). We could play for hours from time to time, day after day. We also played carrom together and as a little girl, I remembered playing small combat toys and lego with my bro. The most time spent together was on jigsaw puzzle. We had about 10 sets of jigsaw puzzles (not easy one leh...:p). We were so crazy at one time for a season that we would mix all the puzzles together and we divide 5 sets each, and we will compete with each other by speed - seeing who finished first at the end of the day! We were so crazy that we could do a few rounds a day too! When we all grew bigger, board games took precedence of all other games and toys. Me, my sis, my bro and some friends enjoyed playing Monopoly and Risk and Scrabble and err.. err.. cant remember what else...

So, yeah... I believe as a family, we were really blessed to get exposed with all kinds of games! "Game nights" is totally encouraged in each family. I will of course cultivate this kind of family leisure time when Sarah and future kid(s) grow up... :p but of course with a balance! That's when hubby has to come in! Hehehe...