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 many other parents nowadays, I fought endlessly with my girls about video games. My girls were obsessed with them; they always aspired to find the coolest games console as well as the newest games, although Barbie video games were their most favorite. I can remember when my youngest received Barbie: The Island Princess for the DS for her birthday 1 year. As soon as she opened that Barbie video game, no other presents mattered. With her new Barbie game on 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 computer games within my house was exhausting. It looked like no matter what I did I really could not change my girls' minds over online games. I'm not really the type of parent who gives in to her children or am I the type to surrender when I want something. However, it seemed like this battle against computer games was going to defeat me. So, instead of attempting to fight their obvious desire for Barbie video games along with the pleasure these games gave them, I made the decision to evaluate them.
I grabbed my daughters DS and her Barbie Groom and Glam Pups game, the latest favorite Barbie video game, and started playing it. I probably got about a few minutes in the video game and was at a total loss in regards to what to do. It's no surprise that that video games still baffled me as an adult. Instead of chuck the game down in disgust I called my daughter inside the room to help me out. The surprise on the face when she saw me playing her video game was priceless.
My daughter sat down with me and patiently taught me a few 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 enjoying a video game. My daughter and I probably sat there for 2 hours, before I remembered that it was way past time to get dinner on the table. I quickly jumped up to go prepare dinner, but seeing the look on my 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.
The simple truth is if you take the time to recognize my kids' pleasure in video games, I was able to see things I had never witnessed before. Video games may very well be fun, far more fun than reading a book. However, I still was on a pursuit to curb exactly how much the children played video games. Now I understood why they liked them. I found myself even enjoying them. All the same, that did not mean I supported my kids playing them nonstop, I knew that boundaries should be set.
In talking with my husband, who probably enjoyed online games a whole lot more than the kids did, we thought we would set up a family game night, only we chosen to do it two nights each week. Two times a week after dinner my daughters would go pick their 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. We all took turns selecting the games for family night. And, in the process, every person benefited from spending some more time together as a family.
What I learned, as a parent from this experience is that hoping to ban something usually is not worth the battle, I prefer to save my battles for the really big things. By taking the time to hear the children and open up my mind, I figured that all the studies were exactly that a bunch of studies, only I know my children, and only I can determine if video games are hurting the kids. Now I have realized that video games are amazing, they can even be appreciated together. Therefore, although we never fight over whether video games must be played. We do have issues with moderating the length of time is allocated to video games. Now I won't lose that battle. Everything needs moderation!
Like many other parents nowadays, I fought endlessly with my girls about video games. My girls were obsessed with them; they always aspired to find the coolest games console as well as the newest games, although Barbie video games were their most favorite. I can remember when my youngest received Barbie: The Island Princess for the DS for her birthday 1 year. As soon as she opened that Barbie video game, no other presents mattered. With her new Barbie game on 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 computer games within my house was exhausting. It looked like no matter what I did I really could not change my girls' minds over online games. I'm not really the type of parent who gives in to her children or am I the type to surrender when I want something. However, it seemed like this battle against computer games was going to defeat me. So, instead of attempting to fight their obvious desire for Barbie video games along with the pleasure these games gave them, I made the decision to evaluate them.
I grabbed my daughters DS and her Barbie Groom and Glam Pups game, the latest favorite Barbie video game, and started playing it. I probably got about a few minutes in the video game and was at a total loss in regards to what to do. It's no surprise that that video games still baffled me as an adult. Instead of chuck the game down in disgust I called my daughter inside the room to help me out. The surprise on the face when she saw me playing her video game was priceless.
My daughter sat down with me and patiently taught me a few 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 enjoying a video game. My daughter and I probably sat there for 2 hours, before I remembered that it was way past time to get dinner on the table. I quickly jumped up to go prepare dinner, but seeing the look on my 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.
The simple truth is if you take the time to recognize my kids' pleasure in video games, I was able to see things I had never witnessed before. Video games may very well be fun, far more fun than reading a book. However, I still was on a pursuit to curb exactly how much the children played video games. Now I understood why they liked them. I found myself even enjoying them. All the same, that did not mean I supported my kids playing them nonstop, I knew that boundaries should be set.
In talking with my husband, who probably enjoyed online games a whole lot more than the kids did, we thought we would set up a family game night, only we chosen to do it two nights each week. Two times a week after dinner my daughters would go pick their 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. We all took turns selecting the games for family night. And, in the process, every person benefited from spending some more time together as a family.
What I learned, as a parent from this experience is that hoping to ban something usually is not worth the battle, I prefer to save my battles for the really big things. By taking the time to hear the children and open up my mind, I figured that all the studies were exactly that a bunch of studies, only I know my children, and only I can determine if video games are hurting the kids. Now I have realized that video games are amazing, they can even be appreciated together. Therefore, although we never fight over whether video games must be played. We do have issues with moderating the length of time is allocated to video games. Now I won't lose that battle. Everything needs moderation!
About the Author:
Be sure to check out Laura's barbie online games reviews and recommendations. She has several years of experience in education and child development.
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