Video Games

Since I was little and playing "snake" on my dad's home-built computer with green screen and probably a resolution of 300x300 pixels (I probably could've counted them), I have loved playing video games.

I played Space Invader's at my neighbor's house. She had no interest in the game, but I could've watched for hours as her brother shot down the aliens with little space ships.

I became obsessed with King's Quest IV, and would spend hours trying to figure out WHAT THE HECK to do after going through every screen. Then I found out my older sister's boyfriend played the game and he gave me a clue to what the next step was. Back in those days you had to TYPE a question, and it had to be phrased with the key words in the right order to get you what you wanted. Nothing like just pushing the X button to talk to people.

I would spend lots of time watching friends play computer games as well. Even while I was dating Travis, and later engaged, I enjoyed, yes, I truly enjoyed, watching his little brother play Zelda on the PS2.

We bought PC games when they were available (a few of the Final Fantasy games) when we were first married. We enjoyed playing games at friends' houses.

I was absolutely thrilled when for my birthday one year Travis bought me a Play Station 2. Yes, he really did buy it for me. He bought me games I like to play. Of course, we play games together, and I can still sit and watch him play games for hours.

It seems that my love (and, ok, I guess Travis enjoys them, too) of games has been passed to our children- but in different ways. Zoë enjoys watching others play, and Megan and Miranda want in on the action. It's rather comical to watch them. I think Zoë would enjoy the PS2 more if she got better at it, but she quickly becomes frustrated and upset that she "didn't win!" However, Zoë loves playing on the computer: PBSKids or one of the other kindergarten /preschool games we have. She's pretty much "solved" all of the games, and loves playing them over again. Megan couldn't care less if she loses, but she loves winning, too. For her, I think she enjoys joining in the fun. Miranda just likes creating havoc and pushing buttons, but she also learns a lot from observing her sisters at work.

I've considered and hemmed and hawed about buying a Wii, or investing in a PS3 (with blue ray- more for Travis than me). I just cannot justify the expense. I already get enough funny looks when I tell people the PS2 is mine. And, yes, I do play. I just wish I had more time to play my games... it seems that daily chores and little ones seem to quickly monopolise my time.