Game Day
At one point I used to worry that video games might be the death knell of civilization. I watched my oldest grandson play Minecraft at all hours and worried. But then he got a scholarship to Mizzou. Graduated. Got a job. Moved to St. Louis and appears to be just fine. Then my daughter married a Major in the US Army reserve, a graduate of Ranger School, a fellow teacher, who now has a doctorate and is a Lt. Colonel. He’s an avid gamer.
It appears I might be missing something. Although, I can’t tell what because I still don’t see the appeal. I keep thinking I just need to find the right game. After all, it took me a while to warm to Wordle, but now I play every day and my current win streak is 72. But I’m a writer and love words and linguistics so it feels natural. I don’t really understand first person shooter games or sword fights or boxing or any of that. Despite the action, it just seems dull and repetitive. But it does something to the brain and it might be good.
I say all this because games have made babysitting easier. My youngest grandson will gladly play for hours and given my new experience and understanding, I’m perfectly willing to let him. Same with my young granddaughter. Screen time is okay. I’ve watched enough of their movies and shows to know they’re stories, and consuming vast quantities of stories is good. And I say all this knowing that this morning we’ll all go for a bike ride and this afternoon there will be a swim and maybe we’ll go to the park. And now days babysitting the kids is actually a little easier than it once was, because that’s life in the 21st century and there are games.