Amazing Discoveries

Hi. My name is Luke.

(Hi, Luke.)
And I am addicted to the Wii.

About a year ago, I was begging for a Wii. I wanted it for our family, so that we could "spend quality time together". So last Christmas, my parents gave in to my begging and bought our family a Wii.

At first it was fun for everyone to bowl together, ski, play tennis, and hoola-hoop (my specialty). But the novelty wore off and we each ended up playing the Wii less and less. Everyone that is except my little Luke.

It didn't bother me so much at first that he was playing it. It entertained him, and he seemed to enjoy it. But as time went on, he became more and more obsessed with having to play and "beat the next level".

So I made a chart. One hour of electronics and it was divided up into 15 minute increments. When Luke needed punishment, I just took a 15 minute block away. Some days were good, some days were bad. It seemed like the chart was working. At least for a little while.

But it was still getting worse. All Luke could think about was Super Mario 3. His one hour wasn't enough. When I was putting him to bed, he would say, "Mom, I can't wait until tomorrow. I think I can beat the next level." When he would wake up in the morning, "Mom, when I am done with my schoolwork I am going to beat the castle." When I was giving him a bath, "Mom, when I grow up I am going to be Super Mario." When his hour of play time had been used up he would whine and cry and say, "That was only 15 seconds!" It was bad. BAD!!!! I had begun to HATE the Wii and what it had done to my little boy.

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend an evening with some amazing moms. During the course of the evening I had mentioned my concern over the Wii and how it has affected my sweet little boy. He had changed, and not for the better. Another mom had told me that she had seen a difference in her son (a little older than Luke) once they had introduced electronics. She recommended a book to me called Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D.. In this book it talks about how in the past 20 years boys have become more and more attached to remote controls and less attached to real relationships. That there is a real addiction that is VERY common in especially boys with computers and video games.

That scared me.

So, as soon as I got home that night (1 a.m. - yeah -we had some really good discussions) I yanked our Wii out from our TV and put it out of sight and out of mind! And no more computer for a while either. That was Wednesday night.

And do you know what has happened over that past few days? My Little Luke has returned. He is playing with his toys that have collected dust over the past few months. He isn't whining and begging for the Wii anymore, and he even asked me to play with him on his Geo-Trax. He hadn't played with them in so long I was about to put them on Craigslist!!!

Needless to say, I am happy that I did what I did. I don't know what we will do in the future with the Wii and computer. For now, I will just have to be "OK" with tripping over toys and picking up more messes now that my kids are becoming more creative without electronics. I have seen how the Wii had changed Luke's attitude, and it wasn't for the better. So for now, the Wii has gone into hibernation mode and may not be coming back out for a while! I know we live in a time where you really can't do too much without being on the computer, and I do think it is important for them to learn how to use the computer.But right now, our family is "detoxing" from electronics. Again, I don't want to be a "mean mommy", but I definitely don't want to be a mommy who doesn't care.