Forced Family Fun

The Summer of Mahjong

Or, Everyone Everywhere All at Once This began as the summer of Mahjong. In May and June, while my oldest son was waiting for a job to...

Family Book Club: True Grit

A review of True Grit as a family book club selection

Game Review: Magical Kitties Save the Day

You are cute. You are cunning. You are fierce. You are a magical kitty and it's time to save the day. Recently we used another Forced...

Game Review: Do You Really Know Your Family?

This Christmas, our oldest son gave my husband the game Do You Really Know Your Family? My husband had given the younger boys huge...

Forced Family Fun: Paper Chain Prank

Recently our Forced Family Fun took a sinister turn. Actually, we couldn’t agree on whether what we were doing was a prank or a gift. My...

Forced Family Fun: How to Make it Work for Your Family

Here are some strategies for creating regular family time together with fun activities, for families with pre-teens and teens.

The Summer Reading Role Reversal

My children are taking revenge, and they are wielding my own weapons against me. Each summer, I give my younger boys “Challenge Books” to...

Forced Family Fun: Origami

Or, "Pick Your Paper Wisely" Recently two of my oldest son’s Forced Family Fun choices came together in a highly unsatisfying way. My...

Family Book Club: The Narnia Series

Or "Teatime in Narnia" {Originally written August 2020} Our third Family Book Club pick was the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, which...

Forced Family Fun: Kickball

One of our favorite family activities to play alone or with another family is kickball with an enormous ball. It's active but doesn't...

Family Book Club: Julie of the Wolves

or, "Pin the Wolf on the Caribou" {Originally written May 2020} Given the success of The Call of the Wild, I give Forced Family Book Club...

Family Book Club: The Call of the Wild

or, "The Wildest Book Club I've Ever Been To" {Originally written April 2020} I’ve just attended the wildest book club ever. I’ve been to...

Forced Family Fun: How It Began

Recently, the five of us crowded around a newspaper-covered kitchen countertop, donning latex gloves and an x-acto knife, slicing the...