Our First Game Station.....

Due to the generosity of a friend, we have our first PS2 in the house. It was never that I was against gaming systems, it was just that they were very low on my radar and even lower on my priority list. We were the kind of family that went 15 years without a tv, then for a long time we only had one in the family room. Now, we have had more computers than members of the household for years and all of us have played games on them, so it wasn't games I was hesitant about.

When the girls were little, we were at dance or gymnastics until bedtime. Nathan, who was usually along for the ride, took a class here and there, but was happy to sit and play with his cars on the studio floor while the girls were in class. During the day his toys were blocks, Marble Works, Lincoln Logs, etc.... or he was outside playing.

One day, after visiting some friends, he did ask for a system and got one that mostly stayed at his dad's house. I am not sure whatever happened to that system, but he didn't stay interested in it for very long. Then came the advent of all these musical video games.
Not only was I more interested, he was really captivated. He played them everywhere he could.. Stores, friend's houses, arcades.... he talked about them all the time. I was ready to try and find a good used system. (I have learned not to get 'new' stuff until they will play with/use the used stuff for over a year. ) As I was asking advice from my friend she suprised me with one. Just in one day, I have noticed positive things!

The music on his favorite game is classic rock, which I strongly prefer to gansta rap. It got everyone laughing and playing together. Nathan and Dirk have had a rougher time getting along this year since they are with each other just about everyday, but today they were really sharing in something wonderful. It stopped being about the game for me, it started being about the way the two of them were bonding again. Athena was over for a short time and even she jumped in and then 'hung out' with us longer than usual. She sat at the table and ate lunch with me, talking about guys, school, dance, and life. In the background Nathan and Dirk laughing, classic rock playing, and everything was right with the world.

There are angels among us, even when they don't know it. When they touch our lives, the bad stuff seems to drift away. Thank you again, Kim, you really are an angel!