by Laura Scott
The most difficult things for me to understand being a mom is the way involved my girls are in video games. As a child I wasn't very big on video games, I was much more focused on reading and playing outside. Sure, I had a video game system as a kid, however it did not entice me as it does to my girls.
Like other parents nowadays, I fought endlessly with my girls about video games. My girls were obsessed with them; they always aspired to get the coolest games console and the newest games, although Barbie video games were their favorite. I can remember when my youngest received Barbie: The Island Princess for the DS on her birthday 1 year. When she opened that Barbie video game, no other presents mattered. Together with her new Barbie game in hand, off she went to her room where she remained for what seemed hours.
I found myself literally in awe over this strange hold that video games appeared to have over the children. I had read all of the warnings in parents' magazines that speak about how bad video games were for children. I had even seen numerous reports on the news talking about exactly the same things and how several studies were done. With all this not so great news about video games, I was determined to stop them within my house. I grounded my girls from video games for days at any given time, sent them outside to spend time playing in the sun. I signed them up for dance lessons, took them over to the park, quite simply, I exhausted myself looking to distract them from the video games they seemed to love very much.
As you can imagine this battle against online games inside my house was exhausting. It seemed like whatever I did I really could not change my girls' minds over computer games. I am not the kind of parent who gives in to her children or am I the type to quit while I want something. However, it looked like this battle against on-line games was going to defeat me. So, rather than attempting to fight their obvious desire for Barbie video games together with the pleasure these games gave them, I made a decision to check them out.
I grabbed my daughters DS and her Barbie Groom and Glam Pups game, the newest favorite Barbie video game, and started playing it. I probably got about a few minutes in to the video game and was at a total loss about what to do. No real surprise that video games still baffled me being an adult. Instead of just toss the game down in disgust I called my daughter to the room to assist me. The surprise on her face when she saw me playing her video game was priceless.
My daughter sat down with me and patiently explained to me things I was supposed to do. Before I knew it I was having a lot fun, sitting there giggling and laughing with my daughter, and I was even finding pleasure in a video game. My daughter and I probably sat there for a couple of hours, before I remembered that it was way past time to put together dinner on the table. I immediately jumped up to go cook dinner, but seeing the look on my own daughters face made me stop short.
Rather than rushing out directly into kitchen, I sat down to talk with my daughter. My daughter was confused. She wasn't able to understand why I'd stop playing video games with her to go cook dinner because we have been having a good time. Oh how nice it truly is to be young! In place of just leaving her puzzled, I told her that yes I'm having fun, however I needed to address my responsibilities as well, basically if I decided not to prepare dinner, nobody would eat. Also, I reassured her that after dinner we were able to sit down and play a few more video games.
You see by taking some time to recognise my kids' pleasure in video games, I was capable of seeing things I had never witnessed before. Video games may very well be fun, even more fun than reading a novel. However, I still was on a pursuit to curb how much my kids played video games. Now I understood why they liked them. I found myself even enjoying them. Nevertheless, that did not mean I supported my children playing them nonstop, I knew that boundaries would have to be set.
In talking with my husband, who probably enjoyed online games a lot more than my kids did, we wanted to set up a family game night, only we made a decision to do so two nights a week. Twice per week after dinner my daughters would go pick their most favorite Barbie video game, which surely each one had her favorite. My youngest daughter loved the Barbie: Island Princess video game, while my older daughter preferred Barbie Groom and Glam Pups. Each of us took turns selecting the games for family night. And, in doing so, we all benefited from spending additional time as a family.
The Thing I learned, as a parent out of this experience is that trying to ban something usually just isn't worth the battle, I favor to save my battles for the really big things. If you take the time to listen to my kids and open up my mind, I realized that all the studies were just that a bunch of studies, only I understand the kids, and only I can analyse if video games are hurting the kids. Now I actually have come to realize that video games are wonderful, they can even be really enjoyed together as a family. Therefore, although we never fight over whether or not video games ought to be played. We do have issues with moderating the length of time is allocated to video games. Now I will not surrender that battle. Just about everything needs moderation!
Be sure to check out Laura's <a href="http://goarticles.com/article/5564172">barbie online games</a> reviews and recommendations. She has several years of experience in education and child development.
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New Unique Article!
Title: Are Your Children Hooked On Video Games? How To Stop The Fights!
Author: Laura Scott
Email: laura@barbiethedoll.com
Keywords: barbie,children,kids,girls games,online games,games,indoor activities,computer games,education,parenting,video games,hobbies,home,family
Word Count: 1015
Category: Hobbies
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