(I believe this has been my longest lapse since starting Life in A-Town. I guess it’s the holiday preparations that have consumed my usual post time. I don’t feel I have anything significant to say today, either. But I’ll blog. And possibly bore.)I mentioned last post that Pearl has recently become a die-hard fan of Backyardigans. Her obsession persists. While Ben enjoys a good episode of backyard fun (oh-so-ironic, since the kids are actually glued to their chairs staring at the boob tube), his real passion these days is for an online video game called Poptropica. He is intent—intent!—on winning more islands. I am not sure what this means, but it concerns me, his level of determination to spend as much “quality time” as possible with a character named “Big Nate.”
About 3 weeks ago, we deemed it necessary to limit the kids’ computer time to 45 minutes per day. This restriction pains Ben, truly. It’s almost alarming (bordering on amusing) to see him writhe in protest when his Poptropica time is up.
“OK, Ben, it’s been 45 minutes. Time to get off the computer and play something else.” (This after a 10-minute warning and a 5-minute warning.)
“It hasn’t been 45 minutes!” snarls normally mild-mannered Ben. “It’s only been, like, 45 seconds!”
An ugly altercation ensues, ending with the computer off, Ben sent to his room, and parents shaking their heads at their son’s turn of character. Is ours the only 5-year-old showing signs of early gaming addiction?
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One other noteworthy obsurdity before I go wrap some more gifts:
Will and I took a rare trip to the McDonald’s drive-thru the other day. We were coming home from Ben’s “Gingerbread Man” kindergarten play, so maybe we were feeling a bit nostalgic for the fries of our youth. We decided to stop for some fish sandwiches (because ordering fish seems semi-respectable, even if the Fillet-o-Fish is anything but).
We pulled up to the walkie-talkie thingy, prepared with our selections, when the pleasant young female voice said, “Hello and welcome to McDonald’s. Would you like to try a Big Mac Snack Wrap today?” I practically guffawed in her electronic ear. A Big Mac Snack Wrap? It’s the most oxymoronic notion I’ve heard in a long, long time.
Then again, so is ordering quasi-healthy fish sandwiches with eggnog milkshakes to wash them down. Which we did. It’s a world gone mad.
6 comments:
About two months ago, Mr. M. and I foolishly tried the Big Mac Snack Wrap at the suggestion of the friendly female voice coming from the walkie-talkie thingy. Never again. Never, ever, ever again. You chose well :)
5-year-olds don't understand that time flies when you're having fun. Some video games amplify this effect, quasi-intentionally. To him, that 45 minutes really did seem like nothing at all. If the 5- and 10-minute warnings aren't working, try a kitchen timer or something, so he can see how quickly the minutes tick by when he's playing a minigame or traveling between islands or whatever.
Not saying that will alleviate his pain at being unable to play as long as he'd like, but it might at least redirect his wrath from his parents onto the inevitable march of time, like the rest of us. =)
I was going to say basically the same thing. We had a 30 minute computer limit and setting the timer (and saying out loud "Your time starts now"), once he has gotten into the game really helps. The understanding, beforehand, was when the timer goes off, you are to remove yourself from the game/computer, WITHOUT complaint or your time was shortened for the next session. We signed contracts with the kids in areas like this. Not all of them needed the reminder, but with the middle one, when he started to protest, we had it in writing and that was the end of the tantrums. I wish it worked on 20 year olds!
Having had to pry my 33 year old sweetheart away from the computer with similar fits and tears (only slightly exaggerated here I assure you)...I sympathize. Not sure they ever grow out of it!
Man, I've missed your posts! Merry Christmas!
D.I.
Ashamed of how this reflects on me as a parent, I must share what transpired by our computer only yesterday. My youngest had settled herself infront of the computer for a session of SIM-building around 9am. Granted, there were the obligatory breaks for lunch, snacks & the bathroom, but it is safe to say that the whole day was spent infront of the screen. When her older sister came home around 4pm. and inquired when she might gain access to the 'puter, she was told without a hint of shame, "I just got on". All this to say, children have a twisted sense of time.
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