This did not sound like a good idea at first. The little one came home from first grade full of enthusiasm and with a stack of hand-made posters to tape on each TV that declared this week TV turnoff week; no video games, TV, movies, computer entertainment of any kind for the entire week. With a big smile he started putting up his posters and announced that we should start getting board games out of the basement so we would be used to them when April 20th came around. His enthusiasm could not be resisted, despite my internal dialog about the loss of entertainment for the little source of lost revenue and time.

The big kids both immediately declared they would not be participating. They were going to go to the sanctity of their rooms, use head-sets, and continue to enjoy the wonders of modern electronic entertainment, eliminating the possibility that I could foist the little one off on them and continue working.

In the end, I had no choice. I just bowed to the inevitable, and got the board games out for me and my little boy. That was six days ago.

First it was easy stuff. Then we switched to HeroQuest. Then to Battle Masters. Finally to “the Fury of Dracula”, pulling some of the great games out of my basement from the 1980’s. Slowly, the big kids came out of their rooms and listened in. Soon, they were playing with us. It wasn’t long before they were fully engaged, and I could slip away quietly back to my office to get some work done.

It was a great week. We played dozens of games, like a family, for the first time in my memory. The DVDs and Playstation and Wii remained cold, while we rediscovered the pleasure of a long, intense board game in the living room. Sure, I didn’t get as many work hours in as I had hoped. But it was a great experience, a good lesson for everybody, and in the end, a better way to live our one wild and precious life.