By Kathy Miele
When my son Max was just a toddler, he played Sesame Street educational videos. As far as I was concerned, it was a fun way for him to learn his letters and numbers. What harm could come from that, I thought.
Then the first real video game came into the house, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“Look at the way his foot comes up at exactly the same time the turtles are landing a kick shot,” my husband, Steven said.
Max had pulled his little plastic picnic table up in front of the television set. He was sitting on top of the table with his feet planted firming on the bench, except when Donatello was high kicking one of the bad guys, and sure enough Max’s little foot was off the bench and into the air.
“I’m not sure about video games with fighting in them,” I said to Steven.
“They’re cartoon turtles. They’re fighting for pizza,” Steven argued. “Besides, it’s great for hand-eye coordination.”
I decided not to argue at the time because they really were just cartoon turtles.
Then my second son was born. Alex was also introduced to videos, not only from his Dad but his big brother too. He started out on Sesame Street but quickly got promoted to all the Mario Brother games then onto whatever Max was playing. I tried to watch the ratings, trying to keep them in the proper age bracket, but when kids are trading games and playing at one another’s homes, I have to admit, it got pretty hard to keep up.
Now that both my boys are out of their teens I really don’t monitor what they’re playing. I do know there’s a lot of yelling and bomb blasts when they play. Even Steven still has his favorite games he plays with the boys.
I never really got the whole video obsession. I always thought it was a guy thing, until just recently.
When I got my new phone I happened to download the Bejeweled game. I really don’t know what even possessed me to do it but I can see it’s now becoming a problem.
Alex walked into the kitchen where I was sitting on a kitchen stool holding my new pink phone, my fingers frantically swiping at the screen as I tried to line up at least three jewels in a row.
“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Alex asked looking over my shoulder.
“It’s cooking,” I answered trying not to lose my concentration.
Alex walked over to the pot and lifted the lid. “It’s boiling water,” he said looking back at me.
“I know.” I was only seconds away from beating my high score. “I’ll be done in one second and then I’ll put the pasta in.”
“Time’s up!” the Bejeweled voice announced.
“Ohhhh.” I put the phone on the counter. “I was so close,” I complained. I took the box of pasta out of the cabinet. As I walked to the stove I saw that Alex was trying hard not to laugh.
“What so funny?” I asked.
Alex picked up my phone to see my score. “This is how it begins,” he explained. “Pretty soon you’re going to be wearing a headset and playing on a team with Dad, Max and me.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I said as I dropped the pasta in the boiling water. I handed Alex a spoon.
“Can you stir the pasta for me? I want to get one more quick game in before I have to set the table.”
Alex took the spoon and headed for the stove. “Yup, this is exactly how it begins.”
