Gaming Guilt - True Confessions of a Mom Who Gave In

Ok, so I feel like I have to confess something here because I'm feeling a lot of guilt, and not all of it is imposed by my husband.

After refusing to get my kids into video games at an early age, unless they were reading or math games that played on my old PC, I succumbed to the hype and bought the new Leapster 2. With a family vacation looming and after reading all the reviews of how the Leapster is educational and sanity saving, I gave in and went to Costco to buy the bundle.

Yes, I have two kids and only bought one console... Yes, I was kidding myself that a 5 and 3 year old could and would share and not completely melt down....

Here is how the episode played out:

Next scene: Grandma comes to the front door the next day with a second console and peace, or relative peace, returns.

Next scene: Not sure if I should be happy or feel like a bad parent because my sick kid spent the morning quietly and happily playing some pet game on her Leapster. I keep telling myself "she's learning letters and numbers' but I'm not sure how well I'm able to convince myself.

Next scene: Hubby comments on apparent transformation of our daughter into a video game addict and warns of imminent destruction of all that is innocent and good about childhood. In my defense, I half heartily quote some study on how video-gaming improves learning for kids but because I couldn't remember the details, I didn't manage to convince him or myself.

Next scene: Hubby and I make plans to get kids out for more exercise, but as we sit down with our hot cups of tea (that we drink without interruption may I add ) agree it's nice to have some quiet time on a chilly afternoon.

Guilt is still there, but I think it's something I can live with... ;)

Disney on Ice - Something for all Ages

So, we had the pleasure of taking the kids to see the latest Disney on Ice show over the holidays. We took our 3 year old and five year old.

The little guy started to poop-out about half -way through until the Incredibles started running around to save Mickey and Minnie. He loves superheroes so the fact that there were superheroes and disney characters in one show was amazing for him.

My 5 year old girl, however, wasn't so crazy about the superheroes, but loved the fact that every other scene featured at least one guest appearance from one of the many princesses. Although she didn't seem to thrilled about the Incredibles during the show, soon as we got home we had to rent the video and now she counts them among her favourite Disney characters.

My hubbie and I were happy because both kids, who have completely different tastes in everything, managed to both enjoy the same show.