Is it me?

I've been reading my regular blogs (and a few new ones) and it's got me wondering: is it me? I mean, I have an 8, 6 and 3 year old, and none of them has a GameBoy. We do not have PlayStation, XBox, or whatever other video games systems there are. (See? I am so out of touch I don't even know...).

(As a brief aside, I apologize for any typos ... my keyboard is acting up and until Rob looks at it I am just pounding the keys to make them register.)

So we don't have those video game things. We have (this is not a joke) MY old video game system. Yup, we have Intellivision II, circa 1985. We have a bunch of games for it -- BurgerTime, Pitfall, Lock 'n' Chase, Astrosmash -- and it is still pretty fun. We also have 2 of those TV plug-in games, the Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man ones, with Galaga, Pole Position and whatnot on them.

The kids went shopping with their Christmas money and Garrett bought a Fantastic Four TV plug-in game. Evan got a golf game that also plugs into the TV. I really like that one because they have to swing the club. Cool.

But I don't particularly want my kids to have those big systems -- and I really don't think I want the whole GameBoy thing going on here. Call me a cynic, but those companies just keep coming out with new systems that render the old ones (i.e. the ones from last year) obsolete. Until it's something my kids want so bad they're willing to save up for it, I would prefer not to go there.

Rob and I have the same philosophy here -- it's really not something we discussed a lot, we just seem to be on the same page. Our kids don't see many movies -- certainly not at the theaters, where it costs our family $50 to get in the door -- but we don't rent a lot of movies, either, and we have bought probably 2 DVDs in the past year. Our kids have tendencies to get scared and have nightmares, even from kids' movies. (Probably because they don't see much -- they aren't desensitized to it). I don't know if that's good or bad. Sometimes I wonder if I should let them see more so they are desensitized and don't look like sissies at sleepovers -- or so I don't look like a freaky anti-media parent.

There are no easy answers, and each of us has to make the choices we believe are best for our kids. So, for the time being, there will be no XBox, no PlayStation, no GameBoy in my house -- and no DVD player in the car. I absolutely can NOT go there right now. Again, when the kids are older and want personal DVDs to watch, we'll deal with it. I am not saying "Never." But for now we have books, we have music, we have books on CD. In 2000 we drove from southern Minnesota to North Dakota at least 5 times. Our oldest turned 3 in August of that year. The drive took 10 hours on average. We made it every time, singing songs, listening to books on tape, reading aloud and playing games with the kids. Of course they were small so they napped a fair bit, too, but let me tell you, that trip is not for the faint of heart. Now that 2 out of the 3 can read, we are home free. A trip to the library before a road trip is ok with me -- but we won't be hitting Blockbuster any time soon.