[{"_1":2,"_68":-5,"_69":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_38":39,"_66":-5,"_67":-5},"root",{"_5":-5,"_6":-5,"_7":8,"_22":23,"_24":25,"_26":27,"_30":31,"_36":37},"user","shoppingCartId","shoppingCart",{"_9":10,"_11":12,"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":18,"_19":20,"_21":14},"id","no-cart","count",0,"free",true,"updatedAt","","paymentGateway","STRIPE","cartItems",[],"loading","locale","en","readerTheme","light","constants",{"_28":29},"paypalClientId","AX53Cwz8jR6rVVzzZiZNWWXl0dGagi-GZrjG-S3Ua14E5nrKMn7DxDQ730O4R8LusLPp49ALn6aRVaEy","publishers",{"_32":33,"_34":35},"companies",[],"universities",[],"needsLocaleCookieSync",false,"routes/_store+/_readers+/email_author.$slug/route",{"_40":41,"_65":-5},"book",{"_9":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52},"Z2lkOi8vbGVhbnB1Yi9TdG9yZTo6Qm9va1Byb2R1Y3QvMTk5NjY","title","The Best of The Dad Game","state","published","contactAuthorMethod","email","aboutText","

As a parent, you want a solid relationship with your kids, right? Build a bond that’s strong and flexible, that connects and carries you through the tweens, teens, and into adulthood?

Yup, me too. And this book can help you get there.

As a young parent of two delightful kids, I had no clue what I was doing. I screwed up a lot in my attempts to connect, especially when the kids entered their tween and teen years. Spending time together suddenly got harder. I can’t count the number of times that “let’s sit down and talk” ended with everybody angry and someone near tears (often me).

That's where games came into the picture. When my kids and I played board games together, we (almost) never fought. Instead, we breezily talked and joked with each other. The only tears happened when we couldn’t stop laughing together. Shocking, right?

Something amazing was happening, and it all started with with a struggling dad, a couple of frustrated kids, and some extraordinary board games.

After spending several years digging into academic research on family communication, family lesiure, shared activities (like playing board games), I launched The Dad Game, a newspaper column to share what I learned and give families hands-on advice in making this stuff work.

This book contains the best of my columns so far. It covers the basics (like why this stuff works and what the research says) along with game recommendations and reviews, inspirational ideas to help you build better connections, and plenty of other helpful info.

I'll keep adding to the book as time goes on. I'm about to pass 50 published columns and still going strong, so I'll have plenty of material to draw from into the future.

Here's to connecting with your kids and building the kind of memories that will keep you warm for years to come. Let's play The Dad Game!!

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