My kids finally got a video game system. All these years - the boy is almost 13, the girl about 11 1/2 - they have lived with no game system. Everyone they know has a wii, or a playstation, or an x-box. DS? But of course - who doesn't have one? I mean, other than my kids.
But, now there is an x-box in the house. It came from an uncle who says he bought it for himself but never used it. He also sent some games - mostly still in sealed packages. When it arrived, the boy, who has never, ever asked for a game system, just lit up. He was so excited! When asked, he finally admitted that he had been wanting one. I had asked him about it at Christmas, and he'd said no - he must have known we weren't going to buy him one anyway. He also admitted that it would be easier and more fun when other boys are over. It's true that for his age group, our house is boring. I've always felt vaguely bad about that but not enough to do anything about it.
Of course he has had exposure to games before, with friends, so wasn't a complete doofus (like me!) when it was time to start playing. My girl took a little longer. But not so very long. Kids can learn the games quickly. There's no long learning curve for them.
They are having a great time with it, racing cars and playing Lego Star Wars. It's fun to watch them and listen to them.
Once more, we waited, and once more, we found it wasn't so bad after all. Amazing, how that keeps working out. Once more my kids can see that delayed gratification doesn't mean no gratification at all. And I think it's that much sweeter when they have to wait.
