The Final Say

I’m just not feeling it today

I can’t seem to focus today, get to that spot where thoughts become the words, that form the sentences of my paragraphs. So I thought that I would just write and see where the words take me. I think today started with the ongoing issue of my son wanting to do nothing because it is all so boring, except play games, you know play station, wii, psp he has all those plus ipod and laptop, my bad i introduced him to them, unknowingly, giving birth to the most difficult monster in my life.

I remember being his age and being in trouble with my parents for never coming in on time and sneaking out to play outside throw rocks, play soldiers, cowboys and indians and the like. I would bust myself to get my bed made brush my teeth, eat my breakfast quickly put my dish rinsed in the sink and if all was good, head out the front and ride my bike. There I would stay until I was called back into the house, the hours seem to go like seconds when I was playing on my bike.

My son however I practically have to hold to ransom to get him outside, away from a square screen. When not allowed to play, we (my wife and I), are faced with the most appalling sad face which is full of expression negatively directed at us and totally uncooperative behaviour. It really starts to get me worried, when everything in the life of a seven year old is boring unless he on the game.

What kind of future will he have ? He seems to have lost his imagination, in constant need of input instead of finding things to do with the piles of toys and LEGO he has. We can take him out to the place of his choice and still not happy, but with the slightest chance of being able to play a game he will become the most helpful and happy boy in the world but it is all an act just to get on the game. I won’t lie we have both used this to our advantage but he is not stupid.

Look I have no doubt he is learning skills on these games and we don’t let him play bad ones, in fact we have gone out of our way to make sure they have something he has to work out something to think about, Wii is best for these sort of games. Of course he likes the G rated ps games. They do contain problem solving and hand-eye coordination skills that get harder as they get better, but is this enough? I’m not sure but then my thoughts are based on my experiences and from older times, the skills I have may not be the skills our children require in the future.

I can distinctly recall my fathers voice, “Don’t waste your time with acting,dancing and music, it will get you nowhere.” He himself had been a musician in a band and even though he at 70+ still plays gigs regularly believes this in his heart because in his time music was a passion not a way to make a living, as we have seen he was wrong todays music is all about money. So with that in mind I to could also be wrong with the way I look at my son with his games, how can I tell? Will these skills he is learning on these games be helpful in his future?

Maybe I just think too much.

Beaver