Theme Nights

We have theme nights around here.

This was the greatest thing I have ever seen. Erik spontaneously got up to dance a Muppet dance and both boys immediately followed suit.

Family Movie Night is generally on Wednesdays. I try to remember to make a dinner that can be eaten on the floor or on comfy chairs, but that's not an absolute prerequisite. We borrow, find, or rent a movie that we hope the majority will enjoy. One movie that was popular with us recently was The Avengers. During the holiday seasons, we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Sound of Music, Prancer, and Born Free. Last week, we watched the original Muppets movie. That was a big hit with everyone. Xander laughed heartily at all the jokes, whether they were catering to adults or not. This week, we watched the newest Muppets movie. That was also a hit. We loved the music. Highlights included the "man or muppet" song and Chris Cooper's rap. Again, everyone laughed, whether or not they "got" the jokes. I have to say Fozzie's farting shoes were easily understood by everyone.

Thursdays has traditionally been set aside for Erik's and my TV date. We let the kids play with a big ol' board game like War of the Ring in our room while we watch in the living room. Or they get to watch a DVD on our portable player. Erik and I have always watched those Thursday night NBC comedies together, but this season we had adopted Last Resort as our latest date show. (That was after trying Revolution and getting bored.) So, they canceled Last Resort. It was a decent show, I thought. Much better than what they are replacing it with {she types self-righteously without having seen the new show}.

Friday is sometimes Board Game Night for me and Erik. I'd like to get the kids more involved with this. Xander can play a few of our board games now. He is proficient at, in rough order from juvenile to more advanced, Candy Land, Max, Uno, Zingo, Frog Rush, Monopoly Jr., Tales of the Arabian Nights, Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, and Lords of Waterdeep. He needs guidance with the last four, but he is able to be a player in those games. Nick can now play Candy Land.

But mostly Board Game Night is a time when Erik and I can play an involved, two- to three-hour euro style board game together.

That's pretty much our schedule right now. Weekends some kind of ball game is usually playing on the TV. I used to have a knitting night each week, and Erik used to have his own night to do whatever outside of the house. Currently, we stay home.