New Gamestation for Christmas

I've always had this disdain for those game consoles. You know the ones that I'm talking about. They hook up to your television, and kids tend to lose themselves in them. They aren't as bad as they used to be, granted. Now you can get the game consoles that have all sorts of fitness activities as games.

Still, I always swore I wouldn't have one in my house. These things don't really encourage family "togetherness." Yes, I know that there are multi player games, but very little working together. I don't know. I guess I also just didn't want the constant fight as the kids would want to play that thing 24/7, and I would want them to play it maybe 2 hours per month.

My husband and I talked a lot about getting the kids a Wii this year. This is one of those things that the kids have been bugging us about for years now. All of their friends have game stations of some sort. Finally, we looked at the cost of all of the current game stations that were at the mall, and decided on the perfect one for our family.

The one we bought is made by Academy Sports, and it doesn't hook up to the television. In fact, it doesn't use electricity at all. It includes 12 different single player and multi player games. It includes games such as checkers and chess, but also Pool, Air Hockey, Ping Pong, and Foosball. It even has a basketball toss game for my boy!

I keep catching the kids playing with their new "game station." They seem to really like the Foosball game. I don't hear fighting over who's turn it is to play what game. There's no arguing over who cheated whom. In order to play the game they both like, they need two players, therefore, they play together. They even get their chores done right after dinner just to have some playtime.

We've turned our dining room into a game room now. Our dining room table is now a kitchen island table. We're even putting up a dart board as well.

The table itself was $89 at Academy Sports. It's not as big as the box makes it look, though some of the components are large. It is a pain to put together, so grab your spouse and make a day of it. There is something to please everyone on this table. This table encourages interaction instead of withdrawal. It is a fantastic addition to Family Game Night! I recommend one of these game tables over any console for every family.