Puzzling is our go-to when we want a quieter kind of fun. Not every day calls for active games or outings—sometimes we just enjoy gathering around the living room table (not the floor anymore, thanks to our aging knees 😅), choosing a puzzle, and diving in. We’re often joined by one or two of our cats—especially our youngest, Milo—who, although adorable, tend to sit exactly where we need to work. Cat logic, right?

We started with simple wooden puzzles when my son was very young, and now we enjoy 1,500-piece challenges that take days—or weeks—to complete. And yes, sometimes our table becomes a long-term puzzle zone, which not everyone in the household finds amusing. The solution? A puzzle mat*, which lets us roll up and store our work-in-progress without losing a single piece.

What makes puzzling so special isn’t just placing that final piece (although that is pretty satisfying). It’s the entire process—the calm focus, the laughs when someone finds the piece you’ve been hunting for, and even the occasional frustration when half the puzzle seems to be 500 nearly identical shades of blue.

It’s a journey every time, and whether we’re puzzling together or solo, it’s something we look forward to again and again.