wii want to play

As a general rule, I’m not a fan of video games. I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or not, but they seem to make four half-hyper boys even more turbo-charged. I’d rather they went outside to actually play baseball than swing remotes around during a simulated game. Ditto goes for ping pong.

But today - I could hug the Wii, even if it meant six boys rolling their eyes at me.

I am decidely infected by all the aches and pains that come along with the first cold of the season. Tickly throat. Itchy nose. Achy joints. Bleary eyes. It all hit within the time it took two extra boys to drop by and mine to whine that there was “nothing to do.”

That was exactly nine minutes.

Funny how six children with more toys than a small country cannot entertain themselves. They whipped through baseball card trading in seconds. They blasted Nerf guns for minutes. And never mind the balls and books and bikes and skateboards, there is simply nothing to do.

I could think of many, many things I’d have liked to do - going to bed was tops on the list. But, considering four of the extra eyeballs staring at me weren’t fruit of my womb, I didn’t figure that was the best idea. Who knows what kind of chaos would tumble out of the house when their mother came to pick them up.

So, instead of turning to my pillow for comfort, I pointed their non-existant attention spans toward Wii Play and Big Game Hunter. Then I downed a couple Tylenols and flopped into my role as Official Keeper of the Time to ensure fair turns and an equal amount of play. Thankfully I didn’t have to be in the room for that - just had to convince them that I was actually capable of managing the clock by dividing two and a half hours by six. The only child who came out on the short end was the littlest one - he was happy with his 10 minutes of play. (At four, his concept of time is a bit lacking.)

Honestly, I think I was counting down the minutes more than any of them were - praying Other Parents weren’t late. I needed some serious Wrapped-in-an-Electric-Blanket bed time.

I may not be the world’s best mother, and even less so on a sick day, but I do recognize opportunities when God presents them to me. Even on a sick day. Or especially on a sick day.

Normally I’m barely capable of entertaining children. Throw in a common cold and I’m at a serious disadvantage - something in the negative numbers for sure. Add Wii and coffee to the mix and the odds get returned slightly back in my favor. The Tylenol probably helped too. The incessant doo-doo-de-doot “music” from the video game couldn’t penetrate the haze I was in. Neither could one boy complaining when the others took out his tank.

Perhaps the mental fog was a good thing because usually the boys whining about toys they’re playing with results in swift action from the referee, er, Mother - I take the toy away. Today, that option wasn’t even on the table. I knew if they weren’t playing Wii, I had no other game plan. So, I put the ball in their court, so to speak. I sat back and let them solve the problem themselves. (Honestly, I wasn’t capable of intervening, but hey - I can report this any way I want...) To my surprise, after heckling the whiner a bit, one boy offered to let him play in his spot since he had been the one to end his game.
Seriously? What just happened here? Even in my diminished mental capacity, I was in awe. Kindness during a Wii bout? This coming from the same child who will not say uncle even if he is pinned to the ground with no way of escape. Either a miracle just happened or this boy has got wise to my disciplinary strategies. Nah, it had to be a miracle.

Ten minutes later, Other Parent showed up, right on time. I got my blanket time and the kids behaved themselves for the rest of the afternoon, supervised by the oldest. Maybe this is all a dream, but for now I’m going to just thank God for the unbelievable sick day. I’ll pinch myself tomorrow.