Your kids need to play more video games. And if you are a “no screen time,” fun police, helicopter parent…chill out.
I spent last night and this morning hanging out with my son Isaac (9) playing Fortnite on Xbox.
So. Much. fun.
We stream our games online and spend a hours of time together; laughing, arguing about the best strategy, him telling me I’m old and slow lol.
It’s a blast.
Not only do we get to spend a ton of time together, but he is also learning about content creation, syndication and how to NOT be shy on the mic or the camera.
His YouTube channel and videos have even made a little money online (something a lot of adult wantrepreneurs can’t say).
What a way to plant those seeds of entrepreneurship!
Playing Xbox this morning made me remember a picture I took of Isaac the first day he was born.
I’ve always loved playing video games.
I wanted my son to grow up and play with me.
So the first day he was born, I brought a controller and a headset to the hospital, put them on him in the crib and snapped a picture.
It was a fun way to say “this is how I want life to be.” A way to create a self-fulfilling prophecy that lead to the result I wanted.
I’m sure some people out there judge me for playing games and taking a picture like this.
“I can’t believe you let, or even WANT your son play Xbox for hours at a time.”
or
“You are 40 years old and you still play Xbox? What kind of toxic parent does that?”
But I don’t care lol.
Video games have always been an important part of my life, especially when I became an adult.
My Xbox and online gaming was a way to stay close to my brother and best friend as we moved all over the country and lived far away from each other.
When me, my brother, and best friend all lived in different cities, when we were pursuing our adult careers, and starting families…almost every Sunday night we still connected on Xbox to play and laugh and maintain those relationships.
It’s why we are still so close today.
How many people drift away from their family and friends when life gets in the way?
We didn’t, because we made time and used technology to stay connected.
When Isaac was born I wanted to connect with him in the same way, so no matter where life takes him we would always have a way to connect, talk, laugh and play.
So we play video games, and we play them together!
Anna Jo (7) has her own Xbox and has started playing with us (although, she spends most of her time running in circles trying to figure out the buttons).
It drives Isaac crazy, which makes me laugh even harder.
I play video games WITH my kids almost every day.
Sure, we do other things like sports and board games. Isaac is on a basketball team, and Anna Jo is on a travel Cheerleading squad.
But we spend a lot of time together playing Xbox, or on our iPads.
There is almost no conflict or fighting over video games in our house (except around bed time or when I beat them lol).
AND we have a ton of FUN!
Our kids barely fight at all; which is pretty awesome for a big brother and little sister.
How many “no screen time,” fun police, helicopter parents can say that?
I credit a lot of their positive relationship to playing video games together.
There are other benefits too.
Our entrepreneur friends have kids who play games in Michigan and California. Isaac connects with them online to play. They laugh, have a great time and share stories of what life is like in their home state.
How many people have kids who are connecting with friends from all over the country/world like that on a regular basis?
Talk about perspective!
Our kids, like us, are the average of the 5 people they spend the most time with.
Online gaming is a great way to expand their circle of influence!
Isaac is developing an interest in coding and technology. He wants to figure out how the games work, and even how to program his own.
Anna plays fashion games and just this week told me she wants to design beautiful dresses when she grows up.
She even has a notebook where she is drawing designs. They are really good!
We may have the next Vera Wang on our hands!
Friendships. Goals. Dreams. Creativity. Fun. 21st century skills.
All these GOOD positive things come from playing video games.
So what’s my point?
Maybe we adults need to lighten up.
Maybe instead of constantly taking our kids games, we should spend more time playing games WITH them.
Maybe we should encourage them to be kids, have fun, and dig into technology MORE, not less.
Yeah, yeah we all rode bikes, went to the video store to rent VHS tapes, and played with real toys. So we complain our kids are not experiencing all that low tech goodness.
But the generation before US complained because we did those things instead of reading classic books, walking five miles to school uphill both ways, and killing their own pigs on the farm to have food.
Every generation complains about the next one (secretly because they are jealous of what the new generation has what they didn’t)!
We need to get over ourselves and our childhood experience.
Nostalgia lies, and the past was kinda lame.
I’ll take the future.
Times change. Technology changes. KIDS change.
Parents: CHANGE WITH THEM!
PLAY with them!
You may just have a little more fun, empower your kids for the future, and build better relationship with your kids.
Think differently.
Flip Your Life™
^Shane
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