It is not because we are opposed to Pokémon itself. A lot of kids are interested in Pokémon. In fact, we would be happy if he actually played the Pokémon game as it might help him socialize with other kids. But, after taking a small interest in learning the game when his obsession first started, Kai now has no interest in playing it at all.
He doesn’t even have much interest in looking at the cards he has or collecting more.
Even there, it wouldn’t be all that bad if he would go online and read by himself.
But no.
Apparently, this Pokédex is divided into many different categories, with information on every different Pokémon set, and every Pokémon character. And rather than deciding what to look up in the Pokédex himself, Kai is constantly asking me or my wife to pick a path for him.
The questions are endless.
Do you prefer old or new? Do you like Call of the Legends or Undaunted? Do you want odd or even? What is your favorite energy? Pick a number between 1 and 75.
If he were to ask us once, we could tolerate it. We’d even welcome the interaction. But, it is not just once. When he gets to one character, he starts the questioning all over again.
It is endless.
And when you don’t answer his questions, when you tell him to pick one himself, he gets upset. Really upset.
I’m trying to teach him that people don’t want to answer these types of questions all day long. But it is not easy. I don’t think he understands that sort of thing.
And so, we are left with a dilemma. Not answering the questions means having to deal with him being extremely upset. Answering the questions over and over again drives us crazy.
A therapist at Kai’s school suggested giving him a limit of a certain number of questions per day. That sounds like a good idea that may work.
I hope it does. I can’t take much more of this!
I do understand. My son loves underground structures right now. Before it was about raw stats of almost anything and ratings of restaurants, video games, and of the differing educational standards throughout the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do now is to tell him to research it on line and to tell us what was said...what he thought about it with the new information he had gotten...and why.
His questions slowed...until he waited to ask the questions in the car where no internet was available...hmmm...he is learning how to do an end run. :)
My son used to do the same thing during his obsession with Pokemon. I wasn't aware of the website but they have books for the different game versions
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Black-Version-White-Official/dp/0307890600/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319678524&sr=1-5
and he would study them religiously and ask us which was our favorite, or who could defeat who, when we knew nothing about Pokemon. He too would get upset when we didn't want to answer his endless questions. We also tried pointing out to him that it was not as interesting to us as it was to him. But I also felt sad for him as it was his way of making conversation and not having others share your same interest must be lonely, especially for an only child.
I like the school's suggestion, I hope it works!
-myra
Shiroi Tora-san, I can only hope that Kai one day will be able to tell us more things such as what he thought of new information and why. Haha, your son is smart to wait to ask you questions in the car.
ReplyDeleteMyra, interesting to know that your son was so similar to Kai. That book may make a great holiday gift for Kai so I appreciate the link. I know what you are saying about this being our kids' way of making conversation and not having others share their same interest. I try to keep that in mind and do try to engage with Kai as much as I can. One of our worries is who would our son talk to if we weren't around anymore, but that is a whole 'nother subject now, isn't it? Thanks for reading and commenting!