Bring it on
I love my xbox. My son and I figured out three years ago that we couldn’t share, so we each have our own. We are a gaming family and have great fun challenging each other.
We have our own band
If there is one thing I wish more than anything, it would be that I had a good singing voice. That didn’t stop me from claiming the microphone when we got Rock Band II. No one else wanted to embarrass themselves.
The kids get a kick out of my stage antics as I jump around the room belting out “Dead or Alive” with all the enthusiasm and stage presence a tone-deaf singer can offer. My neighbors…not so much. Even the little one is in the band. Since the rest of us play on medium/hard and Mr. Gamer doesn’t allow the “no-fail” option to be on, the poor little girl plays her unplugged guitar like a champ. She was beginning to catch on but was quickly assured she was using a wireless guitar.
Board Games
Monopoly always turns into all out war of the houses and hotels, and I have to watch closely so no one takes advantage of the little one and her inability to count money. Don’t feel sorry for her. She’s the undefeated champion of Disney Princess Memory. She consoles me with, “It’s ok Mom. You will win one day.” I doubt it since my good brain cells are storing useless information like “we need peanut butter from the grocery store.” I can’t compete.
Dreaded preschool play
The little one says it isn’t acceptable to play Polly Pockets or Barbies from the couch with my eyes closed. It was worth a shot.
She insisted on playing Scrabble every day for a week. This required that I wait while she randomly placed letters on the board until she accidentally spelled a word. It was as exciting as watching ice melt, and I quickly hid the game.
The Cat in the Hat game is also hidden in a closet. If you are deprived of this evil game for people under three feet tall, there is an 18″ styrofoam hurdle you have to perform tricks around. Last time we played I picked the dreaded card combo. Crawl under it with mother’s new dress between your elbows. Little one had to hold it in place since I was taking it with me, but I got the points for completing the trick despite my older daughter crying laughing. Score! Play this about 100 times in two weeks and you will be hiding it, too.
I’m sort of famous
Halo and COD are my favorites. Despite my mediocre status, my son’s friends find the fact that I am a gamer fascinating and have told me they wished their moms played. I’m recognized at the Gamestop midnight release line by his friends (that I don’t even know!), and I have been told I am a legend at another’s home. I guess I’m sort a celebrity mom gamer. They think it is cool that while giving them a ride home, I can voice my opinion on the Halo battle rifle vs. shotgun discussion going on. You’d be hard pressed to find another mother with a 17000 gs and her own Halo 3 t-shirt.
I see the advantages they are jealous of: (1) mom understands you have to finish the match before you can come to dinner and (2) the ability to wake up mom at 3am to enter the parental control password because you got a code to download the beta Halo Reach version before it was available to everyone else. Cool..I want to try it, too.
Bonding via wireless mic
I learned a long time ago that my son talks more to me on the microphone from across the house than he does if I’m standing in his room. On the rare occasion he invites me to play, I jump at the chance and grab my pink controller equipped with the FPS Freek mod and my Turtle Beach headset. Yes, I am professionally decked out for a noob. The controller mod was a gift from my son in a useless effort to improve my skills.
Once I accidentally joined his party chat (which included 4 friends from school) instead of his game invite. As soon as I entered the chat I heard, “Who is the Nova dude?” Then I heard a voice saying “It’s his mom! It’s his mom!” like a red alert to the rest not to talk about anything because a mom was present. So much for my celebrity status. In the end, I’m still just a mom.
I panicked and turned off my xbox because I couldn’t leave fast enough. These are the moments that Mr. Gamer rolls his eyes at me with a grin on his face as I have to explain I’m relogging in. I know he loves me. He is always re-setting up my weapon classes and leaving me homework notes on the next things I need to unlock for maximum awesomeness. I don’t have the heart to tell him that is probably a waste of time.
Now Mr. Gamer has the attention span of about 2 matches when playing with me. I’m used to his commentary on how any weapon I use is noobie, but if he uses it…it is pro. Still I am happy for the chance to talk with him that doesn’t involve “What’s for dinner.”
After one of our recent bonding experiences, I could tell he was distracted and probably on his computer. He wasn’t paying attention. Maybe one of his friends logged on and he was trying to figure out how to ditch me. I laughing hysterically when suddenly he announced “I have to go. My mom is calling me.” Then click…he was gone. I walked to his doorway and said “What? I was not calling you.” He turned red and laughed. I can only dream that he would ever respond that quickly when I call him.
I guess I’m his excuse for leaving a boring game even if it is me in the game.
Boys…gotta love them.
I like gaming too,
I still have a little while before my daughter reaches high school. She’s still content to play the games on Popropica, Nickelodeon, and a few other kiddies sites. I’m slowly introducing video games to my daughter. She loves The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I have that on Xbox. She’s itching to try out Bioschock, Halo, and Gears of War. I told her at seven years old; she’s too young.
I get the cool status with my friend’s children too. They are in awe that a mom actually knows what they’re talking about, and actually play the games too! My cousin’s children really love me, since after I beat a game I’ll give the game to them, however, I know If accidentally joined one of their groups, I’d plummet to that mom uncool status really fast, lol.
Yep, I wear the gamer tee shirts too, the baby tees causes quite a debate at times when I wear them at my gym.
My favorite games are FPS.
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My son is a huge Oblivion fan. He just got the PC version and is loving the mod community on there. I just don’t have the patience for those..I like my first person shooters. Gears is my favorite for campaign.
Little one’s new find is Big Brain Academy on the Wii. We have races daily now..and she has learned so much (popping bubbles in numerical order). There is a lot of learning and complex thinking in games I think many aren’t aware of.
I think people who don’t play these games don’t know what they are missing. It’s so much more fun than watching TV. We have to regroup the band..it has been awhile. My only gaming regret was getting the Endless Song list achievement with no breaks (on guitar) with a good friend of mine. It was painful.
I’m a pretty avid gamer also, although as of late I rarely have time to play. Between school, work, and my blog, no time.
Sadly, I must say that I am a WoW player lol, but I like all kinds of Roleplaying games. Not too big on FPS but I do like ones like Bioshock, Mass Effect, etc. And unlike most of the guys I know, I hate sports games.
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Twitter: findingthehumor
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The only sports I like are the Wii sports…but only on a rare occasion. I’m strickly FPS and fighting games (Soul Calibur and Marvel vs. Capcom) with Borderlands being an exception. My son keeps trying to get me to try Bioshock and Mass Effect not understanding I don’t have any time. Luckily if I find some time one day..he has an extensive library to pick from.
Borderlands! That was the other game I was trying to think of and I just couldn’t. But yea. It seems we have similar tastes
Wayne Howard recently posted..Living The Dream
Ha ha that’s too cute. Smart gamer he is… I’ve got to try that sometime. “hey my mom’s calling I gotta go”
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Twitter: findingthehumor
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LOL I’m sure that would work.
Thanks for dropping by my blog! I’m so glad you did, too – I LOVE your blog. And the fact that you are a gamer. I was a WoW-er before I got pregnant with the Little Miss. She’s still in that age though, where I can only do stuff when she’s asleep. And those things are – eat, read blogs, write on my blog, shower and sleep. LOL. Seriously though, I love being here and able to play with her and watch her grow. I figure she will get to the age where she can play games with me too, soon enough. Like you do with yours. And that? Is cool.
PS – This means I shall live vicariously through you for now. Muahaha.
Twitter: findingthehumor
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Ha ha…it is nice when they get to games that are more fun…I will be glad when all The Cat in the Hat type games are out of the house.
Twitter: darlingman1970
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Brilliant. As a first-generation video gamer I do despair a little bit at our offspring. They just have it so easy. Many’s the time I’ve bored my kids senseless with the tale of how video games used to be almost impossibly difficult and, when you did finish the level, no, you didn’t get a cutscene; the colors just changed and you went round again.
Have fun and play with the kids, you “professionally decked out noob!”
Chris recently posted..One of Those Days
Twitter: findingthehumor
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LOL! So true. Playing Pacman now isn’t quite as exciting as I remembered it being. I can’t believe I saved my quarters to play that at Pizza Hut way back when. I’m fascinated with the realism of the graphics today, and some of the games have great music, too. Yes I’m proud of all my cool gear…if it only actually helped my aim. I have to start training for Reach as I am way out of practice.
It’s pretty rare for some other kids to have their own parents play video games and other computer-related games. My parents belong to the “just before the Internet came” era and they have been struggling before to learn the ins and outs of a typical camera phone. I am a gamer myself and my husband also is a gamer, although we have different tastes on some games. He likes racing car games (Gran Turismo) and RPGs (Final Fantasy games) while I prefer RPGs with horror or supernatural genres (Fatal Frame games) and fight games (Tekken, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, etc). Lately, we do not have time for trying out new games due to work, family, and other stuff, so I guess I should be glad that I once had the time to enjoy playing these games. (Lucky for our kids that I would understand it when they say “Just a minute, got to reach the save point” whenever I’m calling them and they’re playing a video game.)
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LOL yes they do have the advantage of us allowing them to get to the save point.
Melinda, this was absolutely joyful to read. I love playing games with my kids and it is fun to see how other parents spend game time with theirs.
I’m not big on consoles – I’m old-school Commodore 64 (What??!!) and have always maintained a snobbish attitude about PCs vs. Consoles. Of course, there was that brief moment in history when consoles surpassed PCs in quality video. But, for my money, a deluxe boxed game like Scrabble – with rotating board, Woo-hoo! – beats em both
I’m rooting for the little one. She has already proven that she can outlast y’all – she DID get you to play Cat In the Hat 100 times.
Cheers,
Mitch
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The little one is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Her big brother is so proud. She gets away with making me play that 100 times cause she is so darn cute. Drat I fell for it again!
Scrabble is a mother of three’s worst nightmare as we (a) lost brain cells during childbirth (b) had information in our brains, such as vocabulary, overwritten by useless grocery lists and a note to change the toilet paper in the guest bathroom (c) too much exposure to Yo Gabba Gabba. The only words I seem to come up with can be found in a first grade reader, and that’s on a good day.
Twitter: findingthehumor
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BTW I started on PC games. I still love AoE and other strategy games.
You are officially the first and only gamer mom that I know (at least to my knowledge). I am not counting Farmville or Mafia Wars as legit games. I don’t know how you find the time for it with everything else going on. I have seen people who get sucked into those games so badly that they become like an addiction to drugs. Some people become like alcoholics with those games. That is truly scary.
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LOL I am lucky to sneak in a couple hours in a week..usually sacrificing sleep. To me it is a great stress reliever.
That’s awesome you game! I don’t think I have the reflexes or coordination to keep up with Halo, and I grew up playing video games non-stop.
The stuff I’m playing now: Civilization IV, an awesome strategy game with a community that discusses tactics and strategy and tries things to see how the AI is programmed. I also was playing “Fable” recently, which is a silly game but is rare in fantasy games, inasmuch wizards/mages are extremely powerful and creating a melee character isn’t the only option.
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Twitter: findingthehumor
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If you can believe it, I played Fable 1 and was in the midnight release line for Fable II last year. That was a fun game. I went from good, to bad, and back to good and I lost a family due to a glitch..never could find them again. lol
You can help keep your child’s gaming experiences safe, age-appropriate, friendly, fun, and even educational.
The key is to educate yourself — about the gaming community, game ratings, and how to use the privacy and safety tools built into the games.
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Having kids around is just relaxing for me, hearing their laughs seeing their smiles I am solved. Playing with them is the best way to make them happy, about your Band it makes me laugh. We’re kinda like that, building our own band and that’s our way of playing. My kinds are up to music.
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It is very inspiring to see parents playing with their kids.
Its very nice that parents play games with their kids, this built their relationship strong and also helps kids to increase their imagination power.
alisha recently posted..Cheating On Black ops
Playing with kids is the best way to built their relationship strong, according to my personal experience and also to built strong imagination power.
john recently posted..CIV 5
Now a Days Every parent wants to do Something different for their children.but They have no time to spend with them.But by play game with them they make happy to their children.
jes recently posted..CIV 5
Its very great idea, i like the idea, parents play with their kids which helps a kid to go more closer with parents and to understand them, and also helpful for parents to understand their kid the lesson of life with fun.
rini recently posted..CIV 5
Really, I feel that children get happy when we spend time with them .and it’s fantastic idea. I agree with this idea.
Omi recently posted..Report Competition
Really its best ways to spend time with kids, it helps to built relationship strong between them and helps a kid to learn more new things and also built their imagination power strong.
angel recently posted..Report Competition
The best advice is that you should participate in their gaming activities. There’s no substitute for the watchful eye of a parent, someone who knows the different safety and content issues of gaming and can explain how to handle them as they come up.
I must say, you have an excellent blog!I like your platform which you have chosen, its really fantastic site.and share great idea with us……
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I guess we share the same situation, in fact ours is a complete Xbox maniac family. From Super Mario to World of Warcraft, the online games have broken the myth of what we perceive as gaming. The day doesn’t seem so far when online gaming will be added as a category in the Olympics and Common Wealth Games. Never knew technology had such an iron hand on the contemporary lives of people.
Some of my favourite memories as a child are playing board games with the family
Really? Thats so awesome… gamer mom ftw! I wouldn’t be embarrased is you were my mom i think it would be bad ass!
that is really true, and also it helps prevent unplanned pregnancy for your girl. the closer they are to their parents the more they open up, the more they open up they will be guided.
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I enjoyed reading your article.. You nailed your son! That’s great! How I wish my son and I will have this like of bonding..
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I like gaming when I was a kid my favorite computer game until now I play..Because when I bored in my work I have a time to game.. |
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Now a Days Every parent wants to do Something different for their children.but They have no time to spend with them.But by play game with them they make happy to their children. |
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i think i will do great with my future kids, as i am a good aunt with my nephew. he loves playing with me and so am i to him
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Its funny, I have a 13 month old and toddler. I USED to be the video game expert, none of my friends could beat me. Course, the games we had growing up were not that great. I was entertained by 2 rectangles and a square for hours. For those too young to know, Google “Pong” and “Atari 2600″.
I am still a gamer, but it is sad that the games that I love to play, my son can beat me easily in. I wonder what type of games will be around when my youngest gets of age.