You know, I thought being at home all summer long would drive me a little nuts, just because I had been so used to my routine during the school year. I was up early every morning, at work by 7:00 A.M. and stayed busy until time to clock out. I really looked forward to this summer off because I would get to spend more time with my son. I figured, if anything, having way more free time would drive me a little crazy.
I was wrong.
Can I just tell you what is driving me crazy this summer? Minecraft. A video game called MINECRAFT!!!
It all started when my son discovered another video game (which shall remain nameless) that was almost like building a world with Legos. He loved it. However, we are pretty sure this video game was the cause of the demise of not one, but two netbooks in our home. Not acceptable. And so, I had to break his heart and inform him that his days playing that game were over. I desperately tried to find something, anything, that was age-appropriate and to his liking. I had no luck. He begrudgingly played some of those other games that were similar, all the while reminding me how “NOT cool” they were.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, a family member introduced him to Minecraft, a game he was playing on his phone. It was safe for kids to play and for the low, low price of $26 it could be played on our home computer (make that MY computer…the only one left standing). So, I bought the game and downloaded it for him. He was super happy and couldn’t tell me enough how cool it was. But then, he wanted to play this game at the exact times when I needed to use my computer and it dawned on me that this was not going to be a good arrangement after all. BUT! Never fear! They make Minecraft for XBox 360, and so yes, I bought the game AGAIN for him to play on his XBox.
Well. Apparently there are many “worlds” and “golems” and “teleporting” goodness that this mama knows absolutely nothing about, and I must get asked by my son a million times a day how to “make iron”, “craft things”, and how to “get rid of the creepers”. When I can’t come up with anything, he gets frustrated and whiney and Iamthisclose to taking it all away.
I figured YouTube would be a good place to watch some videos to figure out how to play this game. I quickly found out that most of these videos were junk, with kids and adults cussing and making some not-so-nice things happen to the little characters in the game. He has found some decent videos on the Minecraft site itself, but they don’t answer all of his questions and Mama is just fresh out of patience and ideas.
It’s times like this I wish my son had an older brother, because mythical older brother would surely know just what to do. I just wish Minecraft came with an Idiot’s Guide For Non-Gaming Moms because, even after reading up online on how to play, craft things, etc, I am sad to report I am just as clueless as when I started. Also while researching this game, I found out there is such a thing as gaming chairs at www.bestgamingchair.com Who knew? They review gaming pcs, laptops, mice, keyboards, chairs, desk, ram, graphics cards, monitors, gamepads, streaming software, operating systems, pro streaming equipment, etc.
Thankfully, my husband will be starting his vacation soon and hopefully between the two of them they can figure this out. My sanity kind of depends on it.
For the record, my son doesn’t play online with anyone else and he doesn’t sit on this game all day. It’s just his favorite game to play when he gets time on the computer or XBox.
We love minecraft around here. 🙂