Mario Bros has provided great bonding moments with T and is teaching him about patience and perseverance.
During these virtual schooling and work from home days, it’s common for me to be on a work call and for T to walk into the office unannounced.
He’d walk past behind my chair, his little head seen on my video, to take the Nintendo Switch plugged next to my desk and then plop himself on the bed behind me and start to play while I continue to chair my meeting.
I love these moments. I find them cute and his presence mostly brings calm comfort.
Unless he loses a game or encounters a particularly challenging portion of the game, that is, and then he screams with frustration.
I’ll then have to explain with a laugh to my understanding colleagues what’s happening and to reassure them that a child is not being murdered in our home.
The Switch was a gift we got for T for Christmas and I’m sticking with that story – even though I’ve been playing it just as much, if not more, as him.
I’ve enjoyed gaming my entire life and have a particular fondness for the family friendly, cleverly-designed and super fun Mario games.
When we first adopted T, I always taught how fun it would be to share the things I loved growing up with him, including video games.
It turns out we have quite the gamer in development.
At just age 6, I am amazed at how quickly he is figuring out the games and the complex controls; remember when controllers only had two buttons and not like 2 million buttons?
He loves watching gamer videos on YouTube and is undoubtedly picking up lots of tips and tricks from them.
We are currently playing Super Mario Odyssey. What I love about this game is that there is a main story you have to complete but there are also hundreds of side challenges that you complete to earn Power Moons.
T loves exploring the vast digital worlds and searching for Power Moons. I am so impressed at how quickly he finds them.
I let him play along with the specific game that I started. With T’s capable help, the two of us have found close to 500 of the 999 possible moons in the game.
This represents two months of teamwork for us, finding one Power Moon at a time – see sample walkthrough video below.
I just love the proud look on his face every time he finds one. Sometimes, he’d barge into the office while I’m on a call to tell me he’s found one.
Sometimes, we play by ourselves. But the best times are when we’re sitting next to each other, shoulders touching, and watching the other play.
T is still not very good at sharing, so often times he hogs the game.
But what I love is when he gets stuck, he is learning more to ask me for help to push through a roadblock. I think that is a wonderful new skill he learned.
T still has hilarious meltdowns when he loses or encounters a hard moment. But I keep reminding him – as video games are so great at teaching – that failure is not final. Just try again until you get it right.
He still hates losing but I do see that he’s bouncing back from those moments faster and sometimes even with a laugh or a shrug.
We do try to be mindful of his screen time consumption, as he is getting way more screen time than ever – with virtual schooling and the hubby and I generally tied up with work.
So the Switch has also provided us with a great tool to offer to T as an incentive to sit through his five daily school lessons, to participate in class and to complete his work.
If he does what we ask, he gets the Switch at the end of school. If not, tough luck.
It’s been a good incentive to get him to practice his learning on weekends too. Our goal is to do 20-30 minutes each of reading, writing and math practice during the weekend.
We sandwich these learning practices after breakfast and before the Switch, while he’s still fresh and not crabby.
This past weekend was the best one yet. He did a great job with his reading exercises, did nice writing (he’s come a long way since September) and he whizzed through the math exercise I created in record time.
So thank you Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess for helping give us some much needed escape and family time found during these challenging pandemic days!
Games are indeed great incentives for our kids, even adults. It’s a great way to stimulate the brain in moderation and improve coordination and motors. Super Mario Bro’s is a classic fav. Remember playing Nintendo in high school. Good old days. Happy Adventure weekend. Regards.🙏☀️
Thank you! Mario is a game than spans generations. Video games have brought out a different side in our T that’s been wonderful to see. 😊
PS. This was an old post and not sure why it got published again. lol. So random. WordPress glitch?
Hope you have a great weekend! We are off on a roadtrip and I’m up way too early to prepare 4:50 am. Lol. Take care.
I’m glad of the glitch, it led me to a place of smiles and nostalgia.
I’m so happy both T and you have so much fun gaming and that it’s helping him learn too. I’ve never been into video games, since the ones that were accessible for the blind when I was growing up were intensely boring, but I do agree that tech helps kids and adults learn a lot. Oh and I laughed at your comment about you reassuring your colleagues when T has an outburst of frustration.
Thank you, Astrid! Games have come such a long way and I’m glad accessibility considerations are more important today than they were in the earlier days. Take care and thanks for visiting! 😊
I think this is really cool! My parents didn’t allow us to have a games console so my brother and I always went to play with our friends across the road who had all the consoles! I love Mario Kart but get frustrated with regular Mario games where tou have to do a quest. I had much more patience for it when I was younger! This is making me want to get the Wii out 😁
I didn’t have gaming consoles when I was very young and always went to my neighbours too. Great bonding experience. It was only when I got older that I did. Mario Kart is the best!!! 😊
Love everything in this post. Thank you.
Thank you! I’m sitting next to him now as he plays. 😊 Great way to unwind after a long day. Have a great weekend!
That is so nice. Looking for weekend trip tomorrow. I’m thinking of diving to Big Sur and do our Family Tradition store , food and beach hopping. We deserve it right? Life is nice if we allow adventures to be its sugar & spice.
That sounds like a wonderful time. I hope you share picture. Have a great time together!
That sounds like a wonderful incentive in teaching that “failure is not final”. It is such an important piece of knowledge and sense of self. Further just they way the two of you are enjoying connection. I loved this line in your post, “Sometimes, we play by ourselves. But the best times are when we’re sitting next to each other, shoulders touching, and watching the other play”.❤
Thank you, LaDonna. It’s been a lot of fun gaming with him and especially nice to have it available as an incentive to motivate him to complete his school work too. 😄 Hope you are doing well!
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I’ve always enjoyed hearing the background noises from some of my coworkers during otherwise boring meetings. It definitely adds some entertainment and laughter! There are definitely benefits to playing video games. I remember reading an article a few years ago about a study that showed that playing videos with a group can help improve communication skills and that it can be good for problem-solving and visual-spatial skills. No one likes losing, but that is such an important life lesson. And I love that idea that failure is not final. Tomorrow is a new day.
Thank you, L! You’ll definitely be amused by the not boring noises from my home. 🤣
Video games are great for sure. Builds lots of skills, problem solving and imagination so long as they’re also age appropriate and not overly addictive.
I know you’re a big board game fan. Do you play video games too?
It’s hard not to get addicted to a game, especially once you get into the groove. I’ve dabbled with a few video games, mostly for the Super Nintendo (which I still have from my childhood). Mario Kart is always a classic and fun to play with other people. I’ve also enjoyed playing Donkey Kong and Super Mario World.
The Mario Kart is pretty crazy. Lol. Gone from 8 playable characters to like 100. Haha. T loves it too. And agreed, it’s always been my favourite.
Mario Kart is always a fan favourite. It’s amazing to see how much that game has evolved over the years. And yes, there are so many options for characters and even what kind (and colour) of vehicle you drive. I’ve never gotten the hang of drifting. This makes me want to bust out my Super Nintendo and play it again!
Happy gaming. The Xbox and using a tablet has done wonders for my sons coordination.
Thank you, Gary. We noticed the same with T! I’m always thankful these tools for learning and outlets for escapism are available for kids like ours. Learning truly comes in many forms! 🙏
WOW T’s writing and math have come so far! You do know that at some point in time he will know more than you at the games and win too! Lol
Thanks Diane. He’s come a long way and we keep working at it cuz we know Grade 1 is gonna be a big change for him so hopefully he’s as ready as possible. And yes, there’ll come the point where he knows more than me with games. 🤣
That is great! I am glad T (and you 🙂 ) are enjoying the video games so much. I agree that there are many benefits to playing video games. I watch D handle the controller and think of all the benefits for his fine motor skills. And it definitely helps him learn about losing! I can relate to the meltdowns over losing though. “No one is being murdered” sounds about right! 🙂
Thanks Robyn. It’s a lot of fun watching him play and playing with him. It’s also been a nice distraction for him while he’s at home and we can’t focus on him. 😊