It’s Father’s Day (in the US), and what better day to launch the inaugural episode of a series about connecting with my twin boys through the magic of gaming?
Before you ask, yes Archer and Seamus are named after characters in an animated program they won’t be able to watch for at least another decade. And yes, both of my lovely boys are on the autism scale, which has made every day of the past four years and light change a whirlwind adventure.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to communicate and there can be frustration on both sides. but when I pick up the controller and begin navigating the menu of whichever game console is running, we’re completely in sync.
Well, almost in sync.
This series is an exploration of how my children and I connect through video games, and my ongoing attempts to get them to play something that doesn’t require a touch screen. I realise once they get to the point they can pick up the controller and choose their own fate my gaming hours are numbered, but then it’s much easier to nap when you aren’t actively playing.
It’s Father’s Day, and while that’s a celebration of the guys who raise children, it’s just as much about the kids who make their dads’ lives complete. I’m proud to introduce you to mine.
But don’t forget the celebrating dads bit, because I’m not giving back my Imperial Assault Carrier.
BRB, Kids Are Screaming is a series about the joys, hurdles, pitfalls and compromises of being a dad and a gamer. Mostly the joys. Sure. We’ll go with that.
To contact the author of this post, write to fahey@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @bunnyspatial.
Comments
12 responses to “Being A Dad Means Playing What The Kids Want To Play”
Yes, you bought that LEGO set for your kids…
Haha – guilty here too!
My kids won’t be allowed to touch my Lego!
Mine aren’t allowed to touch mine. They have their own! Star Wars Lego is ALL MINE DAMN YOUSE!
Replace “Star Wars” with “Simpsons House” and we have the same situation at my place.
Did you put yours behind glass? I did
No, it’s out there to look at and play with, but he knows to be careful and has to ask if he wants it out on the main table.
Oooh livin’ dangerously! 😛
Mine is in a display cabinet on the wall. They have to ask if they want to play with it, but they’re more into my nerf guns these days.
The nerf guns are for everyone 😀
I love that Black Mage tattoo
I use gaming to help connect with my disabled child…….her IQ:54 her Wii bowling score:280. She also gets in and plays with her brothers playing skylanders which is nice.
It’s really cool that you’re able to connect with your kid that way. I’ve heard some really awesome stories over the years about how gaming has empowered disabled kids and helped them to believe they really can accomplish things in life. It’s easy to get lost in the notion that gamers and online communities are turning into toxic holes, stories like yours are a great reminder that gaming can be such a force of good, too.
Get her a towers of Hanoi game and teach her. Then get russian nesting dolls and play with them like towers of Hanoi.
That’s what was so awesome about the Lego movie. Adults collect that stuff, while kids just want to play with it.
I miss being a kid. I hope you sat down with your boys and built stuff together. That would be a super sweet activity! 🙂
Gave a couple of huge tubs filled with toys to some little cousins after my brother died. He had starwars figurines from early eighties, Lego, all the way up to figurines for batman begins and iron man movies still in packaging. They didnt have much in the way of toys but apparently it sowed jelousy and discord with all the other cousins who didnt get any.