FAMILY TIME ONLINE

Guess what I’ve discovered during quarantine?

1. Just how many hours I can play PvZ2 in a single sitting. (Don’t ask. The number is appalling.)
2. I can’t cook. That doesn’t need any explanation. I am simply a very, very bad cook. Thank God for takeout/delivery.
3. I am a very bad handyman. That picture I wanted to hang—crashed on the floor. The beautiful quilt made from my wedding dress? Can’t figure out how to hang it. The simple seamstress repair of clothing was a disaster. Even the clean-up, give to good will or throw out process? It’s scattered all over the house only partially done. I suck at all domestic chores.
4. Codenames online with my family.

Answer: 4 – Codenames on-line.

The title of the blog probably gave that away. As for the other possibilities, they’re all true, but I’ve known all of them for a long time. I am terrible at domestic chores and am very distracted by Plants V. Zombies. It’s just a fact of my life.

So what is Codenames, you ask? It’s a great game for two teams where there’s a board of words some of which are assigned to Team Red and some assigned to Team Blue. A spymaster gives one-word clues to his team, and the teammates try to figure out which words are whose. Here’s a better explanation:

It may sound complicated, but honestly, it’s really easy to understand and fun to play.

Here’s the cool part. I found a website that allows us to play online.

It puts the words on a board where my family can see it no matter which part of the world they’re in. Then we Google hangout, assign the teams, and play. Here’s the thing. Sure, we’re playing, but there’s a lot of thinking time for the spymaster (the one giving clues). And while they’re thinking, the rest of us are catching up on silly family stuff. We heard how my niece pretended she had COVID-19 as an April Fool’s Joke, and it did not go well for her. My sister got fed up with her children’s sniping and locked them out of the WIFI for a full day! (She’d already taken away their phones.) Suddenly, chores were completed as they begged for a return of their electronics. We talk about my exciting visit to the post office (did you know they’re hanging a clear plastic sheet down between the public and the tellers?) and we laugh about what cleaning project we did or did not accomplish during the day.

It’s just silly family stuff, but it’s great to reconnect. Thanks to the internet, this quarantine is actually getting me more time with my family than less. How cool is that? Anybody else finding unique ways to connect with people outside of the house?