I think that one of the things I miss most from my childhood is our weekly game nights. When I was young, we would have one night a week where we'd play board games or color, occasionally we would make it out to play at our local arcade, Gigglebees.

As my daughter continues to grow older (she's turning one THIS WEEK! How crazy is that?!) I want to introduce the same concepts with her. As I was looking for gifts for her the past few weeks, I found a set of Mega Blocks and immediately wanted to buy them. What an awesome activity to share with her! My husband and I love Legos, so this is the first direction in sharing that with her.

So why is game night so important? Because my husband and I lead crazy, chaotic lives. Right now, I leave for school by 7:30 and often don't get home until 8:00 that night because I am directing a show at the school. That means I'm lucky if I see my family for three hours in the day during the week. My husband has a completely different work schedule than I do: I work Monday-Friday from 8 to 4 and he works Sunday from 12 to 5, Monday to Wednesday 10 to 6 and Saturday from 9 to 6. He also has a second job in the morning from 4:30 to 9. As you can see, that doesn't leave a whole lot of family time for us.

Game night is so important because it's a time where my husband and I put our cell phones in the other room and only focus on what we're doing in the moment. We focus on talking with our daughter - who is currently learning how to repeat phrases - and we focus on each other. What went well in our day, what could have gone better, what events do we have coming up with each other.

I love game night because it's a time where we get to teach our daughter how to follow rules. We get to let her be creative while she colors. We get to let her learn how to use blocks. It's a time where we are focused on each other and building a strong foundation for our relationship with our daughter. It also allows us the time to continue building our own relationship – a stronger marriage for our child to hopefully admire and look up to as a great example of a healthy marriage.

Game night should be on every family's agenda. There are so many benefits if you're willing to make the time for it.