Usually, when something new joins your home, you’re excited. You take care of it, clean it, feed it (if it’s an animal), change its diaper (if it’s human). But not this time. Not for me.
Two years ago, my sons got an Xbox 360. They had been begging for one for years, telling me that all of their friends had one (exaggeration) and all of them played violent games (exaggeration). Sadly (for them), I’ve never really warmed to the Xbox. In fact, the longer the Xbox has resided in our house, the greater my dislike for it has become.
It wasn’t bad at first. They were pretty good at shutting it off when I asked. And, when it was off, the boys found things to do. That didn’t last long and our lonely Xbox was plotting ways to get the boys to come back inside to play.
Fast forward, two years later and my boys (one in particular) can no longer play a computer game and then go off and do something else. He has become so obsessed with these new games that I sometimes think he’s left this planet, gone off into some new galaxy, such that he can’t hear me when I am standing right in front of him. Asking him to abandon his game now results in an unpleasant attitude and an argument over how unfair I am.
According to my boys, every other kid in the entire world is allowed to play violent Xbox games 24 hours a day. Apparently, I “don’t understand how important it is to finish a game” and “you just can’t shut it down whenever you want” … This 4th child, is now trying to take over our household.
Friends, this is not just about the Xbox. The same is true for iPhones with Facebook, Skype, Snapchat and all the rest. When any of this stuff is not working or is turned off, instant boredom grips our kids like a painful disease. You would think that life has ended for them!
Yet, if you met my boys, you might find them to be normal, polite children, capable of social interactions and reasonably intelligent thoughts. And, thankfully, they are those things. But there’s a dark side. It’s black, square and has a lure like no other.
I heard that a friend, (whose frustration had gotten so severe), threw their Xbox down the stairs and beat it with salad tongs. Maybe not the ideal solution, although I have to admit it sounds fantastic!
So, please don’t judge me if you hear through the grapevine that I gave the Xbox a good and thorough cleaning … in the dishwasher. I think it looks pretty “dirty” these days — and I’m all about having a clean house!
Have a fun day!
theyearof50 