- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
July 2011 Moms
tchubirubi
member
Dear gamer ladies...
tchubirubi
member
1- do you intend to let your kids play as well?
2- if you are going to let your kids play, will you take the content ratings into consideration?
3- how much gaming time do you think you will have after LO comes around? I'm guessing none myself, but this is my first, so...
I'm inclined to let them play and just keep them away from extremely violent or sexual games. But I don't really know yet - video games can be very addictive and I'd like my kids to be at least a little bit active, for the sake of their own health... Maybe I could limit the hours per day or something. But that is very much like TV - so far, I've remained undecided.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Dear gamer ladies...
growing up i was only allowed to watch tv after my homework and dinner (basically after dark. before dark i had to go out) and play video games on the weekends after my homework was finished.
I will probably implement this with caveat about being outside in the nice weather.
Yes I will allow my children to play games that are age appropriate. And I plan/hope to make most of the game playing cooperative - as in mom and/or dad plays, too, making it family time.
We don't play a ton of video games right now, so I don't worry about how much time I'll get. As a couple we do play a lot of board games, too, and we plan to incorporate these into family time as well.
As a kid we had a nintendo system, and yes I loved it and had fun playing certain games with my brothers. But, it only accounted for an incredibly tiny amount of our free time and we spent most of our time outdoors. Since DH and I bought a big piece of property much like the one I grew up on, we intend to strongly encourage creative/imaginative/"exercisey" play outside.
I could've written this myself!
1- Yes. Lets face it. I live in suburbia and SOMEONES kid is going to invite my boy to play video games with him. As long as its done in moderation and they aren't playing "Grand theft auto" I see no problem with video games as an entertainment option. My parents were really good with the video game rules when my brother and I were kids. We were allowed to play them and did, but we were also encouraged (and expected) to play outside, join sports, be with friends...etc.
I think video games are only a problem when parents use them as babysitters and not engage their children in other activities. Thats when the bad habits form. I also think there is a difference between the kid who sits and plays video games ALONE and the kids that play them with other kids. I'd be more worried about the "alone gamer" at least with other kids it is considered "social".
2- YES! I'm a big fan of the rating system! I've seen/heard the scenes/words in the games DH plays sometimes...and there is NO WAY children should be allowed to play some of them. Like I said in previous game posts...I run a game store and I am APPALLED by the games parents buy for their children. Thankfully, they have a pretty good rating system and information on games is pretty easy to find...so as long as parents use those resources, its easy to spot the "bad" games. I'm not sure if parents are too lazy to research what their kids are playing...or worse, they just don't care. Eeep!
3- Probably not much, I don't get to play much now so I will probably be super busy when LO comes!
1. Do you intend to let your kids play as well?
Sure. My 8 year old right now plays some video games.
2. If you are going to let your kids play, will you take the content ratings into consideration?
No. I play a game first before I let my daughter/future son play. This is true even with her garfield internet games. I try it out first so I know I'm not getting my kid into some Grand Theft Auto stuff or something.
3. how much gaming time do you think you will have after LO comes around?
I'll probably have to cut back to 23 hours a day. I remember playing MMORPGS with my daughter hanging off of my breast when she was a month old. Good times.
1- DS is a big fan of the Mario games, even tries to play a few age appropriate games and absolutely loves the Kinectimals game. Video games were a big part of my childhood family life. Very good bonding experience with my whole family. It was one of the few things we could all agree on doing at the same time.
2- Most definitely up until they become teens. At that point they'll probably be so far ahead of me tech-wise I won't be able to stop them. My little bro had the wool pulled over my dad and step-mom's eyes about video games he played and TV he watched, etc.
3- Most of my gaming after DS was born was limited to portable systems on the train ride to and from work with some gaming on weekends after he was in bed. I miss those long nights of losing track of time and realizing it's 5 am already, but DS is so much more fun to play with than a video game right now.
1. Absolutely
2. Yes, just like any other media they have access to.
3. I actually haven't been a big gamer lately, which school, freelance work and getting ready for LO.
It's been pretty well established that games, and RPGs in particular, really help the mind develop reasoning skills far better than sitting tike down in front of Baby Einstein or whatever.
I'll have to be careful about the amount though depending on the child. I love DH but he has very little self control around games and television. He grew up without a television or even electricity (yes, there are still people like that) so he never learned as child when to cut it off. He will load a television series on Netflix and just watch hours and hours of it until it is finished. Same with video games, so I'm very very very happy that he never got into WoW or anything.
If that is because of how he was raised, it's okay. If it's just some personality thing that LO ends up picking up, there will have to be more structure around media intake.
exactly this! We are having twin girls though, so I don't think I have to worry too much about graphic/sexual games. But our winters here are LONG and bitter cold, I remember my friends and I always had fun playing horse show nintendo games, lol! Then when the weather was nice we'd ride our REAL horses!!! We live on 40 acres too, so I'm sure the girls will love to be outside in nice weather.
After 2 years, Injects, PCOS diagnosis and 2 IUI's, we were blessed with our beautiful twin girls!
Baby Girl #3!
1. Yes, he'll play. Given DH, our BIL, nephews, and friends, I don't see how we could tell him he can't. We'll limit how much he plays, though--don't know yet if it'll be how much time per day or how much time per week or what. If you ask me, my nephews play WAY too much. I want DS involved in other things and want him to want to to outside and play more than he wants to play games.
2. Yes, we'll take ratings into consideration. I'm not letting my 7 year old play Call of Duty or Modern Warfare or other killing games--he can play those when he's older, but there are plenty of good games for kids of different ages.
3. We'll definitely play less. I don't play like DH does, but even he's played less the more responsibilities he's had with work and now owning a house. He'll still play, but it will probably be after DS goes to sleep, when the baby and I are out doing something, etc.
Bump Unofficial Glossary