When I was growing up, I thought adults had it made. After all, they were the ones who could eat whatever they wanted, buy anything, stay up late, and tv whenever. As a child, I felt that my parents were extremely strict--I couldn't date until I was 16, I couldn't pierce my ears until I was 18, I couldn't ride in friends' cars, etc. However, one of the main points I remember from my childhood was the introduction of Nintendo. We had an Atari, and my parents never upgraded to the brand-new Nintendo. How cool was it to visit my friend's house and play with Mario, Luigi, and the gang? Honestly, I don't remember if I ever asked for a Nintendo, but it seemed like all of my friends had one. Above all, I'm not sure why I cared--I've always been horrible at video games! When I met Chris, he had a Nintendo 64, and we had a blast playing Mario Kart on it. Since we've been married, Chris has begun selling video games and systems online for extra income, and at times, the income has been better than his "real" job! I mean, that's how we survived when he was unemployed for 8 months right after Noah's birth.
I always knew my kids would get interested in video games--I mean, we have dozens of systems and hundreds of games in our garage for sale on Amazon! When Katie was 5, Santa brought her a pink Nintendo DS. Chris and I debated if she was old enough to handle it, and she proved that, not only was she responsible enough to take care of it, she did not play it excessively. That's one thing I've alway prided myself on as a mother. I am a firm believer that most things should not be off limits to kids, but instead should be offered in moderation. Case in point--my kids are not told that they can NEVER have Coke to drink. Instead, they know they get Coke on special occasions, such as at a birthday party. If something is off limits, that simply makes the object more desirable. I feel the same way about tv--the kids are allowed to watch it for an alloted amount of time daily, and for the most part, we stick to it. Therefore, my kids understand (and learned at an early age) that they must decide what show(s) are most important, and decide how to spend their time.
Since Katie was so responsible with her DS, we decided to get a red and black DS for his fourth birthday. Almost immediately, we learned the error of our decision. His love for Thomas the Tank Engine and Super Hero Squad diminished as he spent more and more time on his beloved DS. Soon, Chris set up a Nintendo 64 for the kids, so I felt like Aidan was constantly playing video games. Something had to change, and it had to change fast! We tried setting time limits for playing video games, but it was difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. We tried making Aidan earn time by doing well on his behavior chart (more on that in another post), but that didn't work, either. Eventually, Chris moved the 64 to the family room so that I could monitor the time more easily. I have finally worked out a system that works very well for us. Any time Aidan wants to play video games, I set the timer in 30 min. intervals, and he does very well by turning off the tv when the timer goes off. He is playing with other toys again, and I don't have such angst with the video games.
However, as with every issue, there is a silver lining to Aidan's love of video games. He and Chris have recently really bonded over playing Super Mario Wii in the evenings. Oddly enough, the Wii has brought my family together in a way I would never have imagined. As soon as Chris gets home, Aidan runs up to his daddy and asks to play with him. Chris and Aidan turn on the tv, and Noah runs into the family room and intently watches. Katie proudly tries to coax Aidan along in the game.
The funniest part about Chris and Aidan playing the Wii is that Aidan is obviously not as skilled as Chris. Chris is always Mario, and Aidan is usually Toad. Well, the Super Mario Wii has a new feature for a 2-player game. If one player is in trouble, they can "bubble up", which means they can't be killed. For about 75% of the time, Toad is in the bubble, so Aidan's new nickname is Bubble Boy! Aidan thinks it's hilarious, and everyone in the family will joke about Bubble Boy.
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