The Joys of Home Game Tables

Believe it or not, there are true horror stories out there. You may have even heard a few of them. They all take place in dark, dingy basements shrouded in dust and cobwebs. These stories have real victims, too. Victims buried beneath piles of discarded and forgotten clothing and boxes chock full of bric-a-brac. These stories don't make the headlines because they're not exactly tragic. But make no mistake, they are dreadful tales.

Every year, hundreds of perfectly good home game tables fall into disuse and disrepair. Air hockey, foosball, billiard, poker, and ping pong tables- none of them are immune. But the real victims here aren't the game tables. The ones who suffer are the kids within the owners of these neglected game rooms.

Sometimes it's long hours at the office, other times it's too much TV that sucks the fun from their lives. Whatever the case, those of us who still enjoy our game tables can lament these losses. A life without fun. Isn't that one of a child's biggest fears about growing up?

In my house, our family keeps the fun alive with table tennis. We've had two different ping pong tables over the last ten years, and though we may go a few weeks without a game now and then, we always come back to it. It's a great way for me to spend time with my kids. Even when it seems like they're too busy with school and their social lives, they can always find time for a game when the challenge is put to them.

The ping pong table puts our house high on the list of gathering places for my kids and their friends too. And I feel much better with my teenagers under my own roof than about town unsupervised. That alone makes the ping pong table worthwhile.

Another hidden benefit of having a ping pong table in the house is that it keeps my kids active. Table tennis is a viable form of aerobic exercise, and I'd much rather listen to them banging that celluloid ball back and forth than overhearing car chases and shootouts when they flip on the tube.

The ping pong table is still a hit with my friends too. We used to play in one of their basements back in high school and now, whenever we get together at my place, we often find ourselves in the basement reminiscing about those good times and creating new ones.

A ping pong table has been an all-around great investment for the health and happiness of my home. But that doesn't mean they're for everyone. If you're not going to play, what's the use occupying all that space? Look into other options. If your kids love soccer, maybe a foosball table is the better choice. Or if space is tight, a dartboard is a space conscious alternative.

Back to those horror stories. What worries me is that there are so many thrills locked up in disused game tables. All that potential fun buried in heaps of basement clutter. If you're one of those who bought game table that has fallen into disuse, there is a solution: bring a little fun back into your life!

Dust off your old table and see how it plays. It might be time to replace it or add a new game table. The modern game room is no longer limited to just pool and ping pong tables. With air hockey, table hockey, basketball shootouts, dartboards, poker, foosball, chess, and many others to choose from, there is bound to be something that suits your taste. Don't miss out on all the fun!