Maybe is better than No

We do not own a Nintendo DS nor a Wii. We own an old fashioned, original xBox. We purchased it new when the kids were too little to understand what it was all about. Now that they are older and understand the concept of gaming, our machine is outdated. Games are rarely sold, new ones are no longer being made. Even though the kids have only played the cute and fun games like Ratatouille and Chicken Little, most of them require some adult help because of the skill level involved to advance anywhere in the game.

This week, per usual, my son came out of his room after being tucked into bed with a sad little face. He had been thinking. His thoughts were that he was the only!! child in his classroom, with his sister and him being the only!! children in the entire school, without a DS or Wii. It was so lonely not being able to talk with the other kids about the games. He was so out of the loop. He was sad.

But it woke me up. He is only in 1st grade and he got the big picture. It wasn't the fact that he really wanted one (which he desperately has for the last year). It wasn't the fact that he used the only!! word, because even he knew that was an exaggeration. What got me was that he was able to put the picture together and realize that he could not share in conversations with his buddies. And that made me sad.

I know there will be millions of examples as he continues to grow about what's in and he won't have it ... but this hit me. Are the games so common place that it is like not having a TV in your house? Or like not having a computer? Hmm. Would it be so bad to upgrade? I had viewed those machines negatively for so long. But I had never stopped to think that really it is the parent's responsibility to control the usage. We have thus far with xBox and Webkinz, what really is the difference?

I think he caught my realization because the next evening he brought his list of persuasion: a list of everything he would do to help around the house, to then be paid, to then save up his money, to then purchase the upgrade. Such as, changing Cora's water dish for .10 cents, picking up the playroom all by himself for .50 cents, setting and clearing the dishes for .15 cents. The list continued with .70 cents being the highest pay out for good attitude. I couldn't help but smirk. He then said, "What? You think this will take me forever, don't you!" Well ....

The topic is still on the table. We are at Maybe (which drives my son nuts).