Thursday, June 23, 2016

Violent Video Games

video games, violent video games, Plants vs. Zombies, parenting, favorites

I'm not sure how great of a job I've been doing at summer parenting.  I plan to address this further in this week's Weekly(ish).  (And, yes, there WILL be a newsletter this week! Thank the lord! AND, thank the lord I remembered to put that (ish) on the end!) 

Here's the deal: I can't decide if the kids are under-scheduled and/or allowed to have too much screen time.  This is causing me some anxiety, but I've been coaching myself to focus on the positive. For instance, I make them read a book a week.  I feel confident that mandating reading is #goodparenting.  Also, they play outside a lot.  That's also #goodparenting.  

On the other hand, their penchant for sunburn and abhorrence for SPF swim shirts seems like pretty #badparenting.  Also the video gaming.  Just the other day, I let Mac use birthday money to purchase Plants vs. Zombies, which, I'm relieved to find after the fact, does appear to be a reasonable choice for a third grader.  I worried about this as we were discussing which child has "favorite" status in the car today.  Mac had claimed to be my favorite, and then, I promise, this gets back tangentially to violent video games.

"Does it seem like I have a favorite?" I asked.  "Because I don't feel like I have a favorite."  

I can't remember what they exactly said next, but the bottom line is that each boy feels he's #1. That seems good.

"I'm the littlest," said Mac, as explanation for why he is the favorite.

"But I was first," Shef said.  "So you've loved me for a lot longer."

"Nuh uh!" yelled Mac.  "She loved Dad first!"

"We're not talking about Dad!" Shef countered.

"Well," said Mac, very loudly, "I have a first person shooter!"

What?!  This is when I learned that the plants in Plants vs. Zombies shoot at the zombies, and that, as the player, you are a plant. Common Sense Media says otherwise, but this is how Mac understands the game.  Also, in Mac's mind, the fact that he now has a violent video game makes up for the four years of love Shef got before he was born.  They're equal now in love time.  Okay, Mac.

The time I was pregnant and Dan wouldn't play DDR with me.

Three of my FAVORITE things about Dan.

2 comments:

LH said...

I like that they both think they are the favorite.

That's how it should be.

That video game sounds fab.

mm said...

I've played Plants vs. Zombies... all is well. It's delightful that each thinks they're your favorite because I always was and still am sure that my brother is the favorite.