He’s been so into the game this week that he’s even eaten his breakfast quickly every day just so he could watch Mom play for a few minutes before he has to leave for school. Who knew that Luigi and company would be such motivators?
His favorite videos are of three players who are quite good at the game and who get much farther than we ever do. On screen you see the Mario characters, but the audio is of the people talking. The other day I watched these videos with him and I found out that the language these players use is not the kind I want Kai exposed to. There were a few f-bombs, and a lot of b-words.
At first I was hoping that Kai wouldn’t notice them. Language is hard for him and he doesn’t seem to repeat much of the things we say. But then I thought that I better turn the sound down. I don’t want him to start swearing. Once he does, I think it will be hard to get him to stop.
So, I turned down the sound, and, not surprisingly, he didn’t like that at all. He yelled and protested. I explained to him that the people were using some bad words that I did not want him to listen to. I said that he could watch the video, just not listen to the sound. But, that didn’t satisfy him. He actually cried, which is rare for him. Usually he just gets angry, but this indicated that he was sad.
So, he doesn’t seem sad when talking about death, but not getting to listen to the sound of a YouTube video of a Super Mario Bros. game really gets the waterworks going.
To cheer him up, we told him that perhaps his older cousins who live in Virginia might be good at the game. We will see them in August so he can play with them at that time.
Well, two and a half months might as well be an eternity for a child. Kai demanded that we invite them over right now. Right, I’m sure they would drop everything to fly here so they can show Kai how to play Super Mario.
So, for now, he is stuck watching Mom and Dad ineptly play the game.
Now, can anyone give me a few tips before I start swearing?
Perhaps..making a video of him playing...or with him playing against his mother or you.
ReplyDeleteHe could see his reactions as well as the reactions of others.
He would remember the feelings that he had had and would associate them with a visual of how he looks to others.
Interesting idea! I actually want to take videos of him more often than we do. He enjoys watching them and I think we can use them therapeutically to make him see things that he otherwise would not. Thanks!
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