Sort of proving a point.
We're basically a one computer household, though the need for at least one more
functional computer is becoming more and more acute. The boys have book reports
and other projects to prepare for school, and these demand time for both word
processing, and internet searching. In addition, Hila
has discovered Word which she's excited about. The computer is in rather constant
demand, and that means that late at night has become, even more than usual, the
time at which I can sit down and prepare these columns.
The perils of the one-computer family.
The boys' interest seems to come in spurts. Days can go by during which they seem
to take no interest at all in the computer, and then all of a sudden they're looking
up dogs or expensive cars on the web, or trying to finish a paper which they neglected
for too long, or playing a game.
They enjoy playing a wide variety of games, with the popularity of one and the
neglect of another following a pattern which I haven't yet been able to figure
out. Sometimes it's week upon week of soccer, or ice hockey, and then all of a
sudden it's back to an adventure game, only to be preempted by a pleasant arcade
game which they'd forgotten about months earlier that again fades from their interest
when they become addicted to a racing car simulator. But although the pattern
of which game they prefer at what time isn't clear, I think that I am able to
discern a pattern in the type of games that they like, and that pattern, happily,
is toward games that demand an element of creative involvement.
Eitan tells me that the soccer game he used to play all the time no longer interests
him. (At the level at which he sets the game he always wins with scores like 15
- 0 and admittedly there really isn't much challenge in that.) I've noticed that
when he does play that game he'll devote more time to building a team - trading
players between teams in order to create his own dream team - and even designing
their uniforms, than to the game itself. And recently he's discovered The Sims,
and I'll find him furnishing his house, and even keeping
it clean (something he'll rarely do in real life). I get the impression that
throughout the school day he's thinking about what he wants to do with his characters
when he gets home.
Go to: I'm certainly doing my homework, or
Go to: More adept, more time wasted, or
Go to: It's all in the game.