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I had promised the kids a night of bowling for the first time in about a year. Usually, I shy away from bowling because, in the past, I have pulled my back out from it. Ridiculous as it sounds, with my back problems, it happens. This time though, I've been lucky, and only stretched a few muscles that aren't usually engaged in my daily routine.
Tuesday half-price bowling means we get two games instead of one and even better than that, the food and drink were half-price too. Nice!
The first game, *I* decided she wanted the sides up, Then after one round, *N* wanted the sides up. *O* refused sides as "it's not playing the game properly. But after the first game, we agreed that sides up was a better idea for us all. Much more fun to not have the ball spill into the gutters when you're doing your utmost to get a few pins down. We are, what *O* would call, 'noobs'. But we had a super fun time! Best of all, I beat the hubs by getting the only strike of the night! That never happens!
My favourite part of the night was seeing how much fun the kids were having. I haven't seen them all so happy at once and enjoying themselves for quite a while. It was lovely. I told the kids we wouldn't be getting a McDonalds afterwards, but caved, slightly, and bought them all a portion of fries.
Although we are a home ed family and it's all about an education-life balance, sometimes we forget how important it is to have real outside fun. We spend time together all day but actually 'making a night of it' is a boost for us all. Of course, COVID hasn't helped with having to stay home and things being closed, but things are slowly reopening it's easier to socialise. Although you are supposed to wear masks everywhere unless you are eating and drinking, there doesn't seem to be many people adhering to those rules. At least not what I've seen. I'm not going to get into that conversation any deeper. My soapbox has had quite enough of me on that topic.
We still enjoy our movie nights even though it is hard to find one that everyone is interested in watching. I'm going to bring back 'game night'. We had to stop game night because of the arguments and sulks that it caused. Now that they are older, they can deal with losing better. I've realised that some games make them noisier than other games do. So there will be a selection of evening games. It gets quite competitive between the hubs and the kids. As the game gets going, the noise levels go up. Cludo, scrabble and trivial pursuit (Family edition) tend to keep them calm. Uno, articulate and the yes/no game are noise inducers. They can be played in the day instead.
I hope that when the kids get older, they will look back on these family nights and treats with fond memories. Maybe they will pass these traditions with their children. I like to think so.