advertisement
-
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
Gamer in training!
Hi. My name is Valorie, and I'm a gamer.
Okay, I'm not nearly the gamer I used to be. I used to do little else. I'm telling you, I had carple tunnel from holding a controller at one point. But, hey. That's teenagers for ya.
Until that teenager turns 33 and has her carple tunnel flare up because of too many hours at the computer, playing games. Not just any game, either. We're talking the mother of all MMO's (massive multiplayer online): World of Warcraft.
I remember when I started playing. I actually hadn't played any computer games at all for a few years. I was standing in Target with Mitch when he held up this box. World of Warcraft. It had a picture of gorgeous woman with striking eyes, long ears, and purple hair on the front. A night elf. The back of the box promised adventures with elves, gnomes, dragons, and trolls. I was sold in an instant.
It wasn't long before we were questing together as a couple. Liidya and Aarix were our names. We even started our own guild, Army of Ninjas, because all the other guilds were totally lame. So invested in our characters were we that when Mitch and I announced to our guild that we were getting married, they hosted an in-game wedding for Liidya and Aarix! One of our guildmates was an ordained minister and performed the ceremony. Everyone was there: Lotti, Thorin, Ron, Therrolar, everyone from our guild!
And what did my son think of this? He thought it was cool! He wanted so badly to start his own characters. His favorite were the Undead, because they were like walking skeletons.
I just realized as I'm typing this that our guild will be four years old today. That is, if they're still together. I don't play anymore. Mitch quit, then I grew weary of killing the same monsters over and over and over again and quit.
But I didn't really quit. I still read the blogs about WoW. I still talk about it. I still look over at my little external hard drive and think about how easy it would be to plug it in and restart my account.
You can never. Leave. The game.
Do you know what Marc told me to do? Marc, my son who almost always has the level head and gives the best advice? He told me I should keep playing! He said that's what I do is play WoW.
So that's what he thinks of me. A gamer, stuck at a computer, killing trolls. That's what my son sees when looks at me. Is this a problem?
Nah! Marc is no stranger to computer generated friends himself. He has developed a deep understanding of Link and Zelda's relationship and how important it is to protect Hyrule from the evil Gorgannon. Or whatever. I don't play Legend of Zelda, so I'm just paraphrazing.
I should mention that Charlotte is in love with Mario. You know, like Super Mario.
They say to indulge in all things with moderation. I was NOT using moderation with World of Warcraft! In fact, since quitting, I have read more books, done more laundry, and made more real life friends than I ever did plugged in. But that doesn't mean I don't ever want a controller in my hands again.
All games in moderation. Mario Kart, Beatles Rock Band, and Fables I, II, and III are still welcome in our house. Video games know no age, after all. I'm glad I don't play WoW anymore, even though I miss it. But I'm also glad I have something in common with my kids and can teach them about moderation due to my own bad experiences.
Sure, Marc, you can save Zelda again today! I'd be proud of you if you did. But get some fresh air first. Just a little!
My name is Melissa and I'm a gamer too! I play much less then before the kids, but I still make time for it, usually a few hours after the kids go to bed. It's kind of a nice escape for the horrors of reality some times. I too play WoW, still do. It changed so much with Cataclysm, not the same old monsters. All my munchkins love games as well, in moderation of course. They play sports and all as well. My youngest was actually Luigi for Halloween last year. It also makes it nice because at 16, my oldest is happy to hang at home and game with mom and dad vs. going out. We do all kinds of gaming though, card games, board games, console and pc. Nice to know there's other gaming moms out there!Definately! And I must tell you, your blog made me register with M2M. I've been reading the blogs for several months now...and thought about commenting on a few, but this one I knew I had too. :)Nice to meet you all. Just wanted to say that Grandmothers can be gamers too! I've played WoW for years, got my son and grandchildren playing as well :pNow I'm really feeling my age. I could never save the princess on Mario Brothers, nor could I beat Mike Tyson. My kids can beat the stuffing out of me on car race games. I may be mighty, but I suck at video games! :P I have something new to admire you for, Val!Mighty, you shouldn't feel bad! My brother would always get so mad at me because I couldn't make it past the first few levels on Super Mario World. Years later- new version & new system- as much as I love it, I can't even get that far! My husband ties to get me into WoW all the time. I tried it once, and it was fun, but I'm just not a (good) gamer. He is on there all the time, but personally I think I'll stick with Wii Fit... ;-)
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmotherhood (12)
school (10)
family (9)
parenting (7)
growing up (6)
fibromyalgia (5)
birthday (4)
bullies (4)
kids (4)
toddlers (4)
anxiety (3)
divorce (3)
normal (3)
stress (3)
video games (3)
accident (2)
awesome (2)
baseball (2)
brother (2)
children (2)
christmas (2)
chronic illness (2)
death (2)
er (2)
hair (2)
holidays (2)
life (2)
love (2)
money (2)
news (2)
nintendo (2)
obama (2)
presents (2)
recycling (2)
religion (2)
siblings (2)
sick (2)
son (2)
taxes (2)
tradition (2)
unemployment (2)
valentine (2)
writing (2)
9/11 (1)
acting (1)
adrenal insufficiency (1)
adult (1)
advice (1)
afentra (1)
affirmation (1)
alone (1)
american (1)
animal control (1)
animal rights (1)
april fools (1)
attacks (1)
aunt (1)
babies (1)
babysitting (1)
backyard (1)
bad day (1)
bedtime (1)
bin laden (1)
bionicle (1)
birth (1)
body (1)
bonding (1)
brothers (1)
busy mom (1)
calm (1)
car (1)
car theft (1)
car trouble (1)
carnival (1)
casey anthony (1)
caterpillars (1)
cel phone (1)
celebration (1)
celebrities (1)
changes (1)
charity (1)
chicken (1)
classroom (1)
cleanliness (1)
clothes (1)
clothing (1)
clutter (1)
co parenting (1)
co sleeping (1)
comicon (1)
community (1)
competition (1)
confession (1)
dad (1)
dating (1)
daughter (1)
dead animal (1)
deals (1)
debate (1)
debt (1)
decisions (1)
decorations (1)
depression (1)
diapers (1)
dinner (1)
disconnect (1)
diverticulitis (1)
doctor (1)
doctor who (1)
doctors (1)
dollhouse (1)
drama (1)
ds (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
election (1)
employment (1)
espresso (1)
facebook (1)
families (1)
family bed (1)
fantasy (1)
faq (1)
fat (1)
fears (1)
feminism (1)
fever (1)
fifth grade (1)
filing (1)
finances (1)
first (1)
friend (1)
fun (1)
gay (1)
gay marriage (1)
geek (1)
global (1)
goals (1)
god (1)
good moms (1)
goodbye (1)
grades (1)
graffiti (1)
gratitude (1)
groceries (1)
grown-up (1)
guns (1)
haircut (1)
halloween (1)
handmade (1)
happiness (1)
happy thoughts (1)
hard times (1)
hate (1)
high school (1)
hip (1)
holiday (1)
home (1)
home alone (1)
honesty (1)
hunger (1)
hurricane (1)
internet (1)
interviews (1)
jobs (1)
joke (1)
joplin (1)
judgement (1)
karma (1)
kcmo (1)
lake (1)
lawyers (1)
lgbtq (1)
liberal (1)
libya (1)
louisburg (1)
mini van (1)
miniature (1)
minimalism (1)
moderation (1)
momless (1)
montessori (1)
motehrhood (1)
museum (1)
nag (1)
nanowrimo (1)
neighbors (1)
new car (1)
new year (1)
new york (1)
newtown (1)
nothing (1)
novel (1)
obsession (1)
occupy wall street (1)
occupykc (1)
ogres (1)
older (1)
organizing (1)
ozarks (1)
paintball (1)
paranoia (1)
parking lot (1)
pasta (1)
peaceful (1)
pee (1)
pencils (1)
permission (1)
perspective (1)
persuasive (1)
politics (1)
positivity (1)
potty training (1)
poverty (1)
practical (1)
prayer (1)
president (1)
principles (1)
prison (1)
puberty (1)
public (1)
pumpkin patch (1)
questions (1)
raccoon (1)
radio (1)
rage (1)
rainbow (1)
real life (1)
recipe (1)
remembering (1)
renaissance festival (1)
resolutions (1)
restaurants (1)
roller coaster (1)
romney (1)
router (1)
royals (1)
sadness (1)
sahm (1)
salesmen (1)
sandwich (1)
sandy (1)
sauce (1)
self esteem (1)
serotonin (1)
sharing (1)
shooting (1)
shopping (1)
single (1)
sister (1)
sleep (1)
slumber party (1)
spaghetti (1)
sports (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
spying (1)
star trek (1)
star wars (1)
state fair (1)
storm (1)
style (1)
super mom (1)
superheroes (1)
tantrums (1)
teachers (1)
teaching (1)
teasing (1)
temperance (1)
ten (1)
texting (1)
thanksgiving (1)
threats (1)
three (1)
tiger mom (1)
time (1)
tired (1)
toddler (1)
tornado (1)
trash (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
vacuum cleaner (1)
video (1)
violin (1)
visit (1)
voting (1)
war (1)
warming (1)
wifi (1)
wohm (1)
women (1)
wow (1)
zelda (1)
zen (1)