Admitting there is a problem is half the battle. I can admit there is a problem. I like to play SIMS. Not anywhere near as much as I use to. Actually, I haven't played it in months. I haven't played any games (except a few failed attempts with my son when he asked me to) in a very long time.
My husband purchased me my first SIMS game when we were still just going out. I had been having flare ups from fibromyalgia and other health issues, and he knew how much I loved to design things and enjoyed decorating, so he bought me my first ever computer game. It turned out to be quite addicting. I didn't care about the actual game play. I still don't. I enjoy designing the houses and decorating them. When SIMS 3 came out, I was given that game as well. I liked it even more then SIMS 2 in some ways. I could design rooms and houses exactly how I wanted them to look (more or less) and make my own furnishings and such. It was a lot of fun planning out dream houses and making the wonderful properties to go with them. And, I must admit, for someone who can be house bound with very limited things she can do at times, it was a very nice distraction. But, alas, even doing up various versions of your dream home and gardens can become a bit boring and limited. So... I very rarely play any more, though, once in a while I get the itch for putting together a digital house and decorating it.
When I was in my highlight of game play, I was extremely into it and it was hard for me to be distracted from it. I stayed up too late at times working on these silly things. I lost track of time. I had no idea how long I'd been sitting there staring at the silly computer screen. And that's something that I'd like to address.
(Minecraft~ a game that has become a very common fixture in our household)
I cannot tell you how often I've heard (from myself in the past with SIMS) from my son, his friends, my husband and others; "Wow. I didn't know I'd been on for so long." "Oh, shoot. I didn't mean to play that long tonight." "I'm sorry. I had no idea how long I'd been playing." Hmmmm.... This is really a terrible thing. How is it that something so small, so controlled with massive amounts of repetition, can hold people's attention for so long and eat up hours upon hours (which turn into weeks and months, and perhaps even years as time goes by) of one's life.
Where are the days of long conversations, slow walks around the neighborhood, playing a game of cards, sharing books and ideas? Where are the days of attention and energy put into things like family projects, vacations, and activities that do not involve a computer monitor or a television screen?
Even blogging can get to be too much if it's not balanced with day to day activities. How do we all balance these things in our lives? They are not going away. They are here to stay and that's that. Do we designate certain times and certain days during the week for blogging? Computer games? Video Games? And certainly those must always fall around the other, much more important things in life, like family and friends and the duties of the home and so forth. Surely they must.
But sometimes they don't. And that's probably okay once in a while. There are certainly days I spend a lot more time blogging then doing anything else. Those are usually days everyone is busy with other things, I don't feel very well and it's a lovely thing to work on, and I get carried away visiting my blogging friends and reading thises and thats. And, if it's not a daily occurrence then it's probably just fine.
Perhaps, for myself, if I just say: "Okay, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for two hours I will blog and read blogs and then some time Sunday evening. The rest of the time I will do the other things in my life that are also quite important to me and to others." I'm not sure of the schedule I will set up for myself, especially since I run an online business and two other blogs. It can require a good deal of time Online. This week it's proving to be a wonderful thing to have my blogging friends and blog projects due to being very sick and having a very nasty back injury. I know there are times I would feel isolated and lonely if I didn't have my blog friends.
The other thing here is that I'm a writer. I write in journals all the time. I write because it's something I have done since I was small and I love it. It gives me such a wonderful sense of fulfillment. The physical act itself is a great pleasure for me. Taking a pen and a notebook and spending a little bit of time every day (sometimes a lot of time) is something I find happiness and satisfaction in. Though, I do balance that out around my family and household duties, not the other way around.
So... is it truly this way for video game players, as well? Do they get as much happiness and self-satisfaction from playing a game? I suppose it's difficult for me to understand it because there is no end product. There is nothing other then credits at the end of the game. Nothing to show for it except the same disc they had when they started. That baffles me.
(Minecraft again~ Looking out from the tower my son built)
I know some parents who have bought their children a Wii and Wii games so they would get exercise! What???? What about a bike? What about going out for a walk every day? How about putting them to work around the yard with you? Baseball? Swimming? Playing outdoors?
I hear from adults that they would never get their child to go outside and play or bike ride. They had to get them the Wii since they're already indoors all the time playing video games. How is this helping? And why not just say: "You're going outside to play." "We are going to take a bike ride now." "We have work to do in the yard, let's go." I do not understand the loss of being a parental figure when it comes to video games and abdicating the parental role of making sure your children are well cared for and get fresh air and exercise. Aren't these things important to healthy living any more?
However, if parents are sitting in the house most of the time themselves watching TV, playing video games, or working on the computer in some capacity, it would be difficult to get your child to do differently.
I'm not passing judgement here. I've done this stuff too. Well, I never bought my son a Wii, and I never consider video games a good source of exercise, education, or a substitute for being outside. However, I have let my son play for far too long. I've done things myself instead of "bothering" my husband and son for help while they're in the middle of playing a game. It's hard to get their attention anyway, when they are playing. This stuff is very attention consuming. You may have to fight an alien, or be in the middle of a battle with a monster, or you can't break your concentration because you could fall from a cliff or mess up a challenge. But where does one draw the line at imaginary challenges so that one can face the real challenges of life outside the pretty box of moving pictures?
There is so much more to life. At least, there use to be. I'm sure there still must be. Thankfully, video games have not become a problem with my son doing his school work or my husband going off to work. And we still go out here and there on the weekends. I know from reading about many other women's lives, that their husbands and children live for video games. That's what they do. They don't do anything else unless they have to. To me that's being trapped. I feel the folks who have to play and have to purchase that next game must actually be very, incredibly trapped within the small frame of video game play.
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