Video games are fun, but require diligence

By Lisa Pemberton | For The Olympian • Published November 30, 2008

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When I was growing up, I couldn't get enough of Space Invaders, Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man.

We didn't have a home video game system. But we could play those and other arcade games at my auntie's bakery for free, which meant a lot of practice time after school and throughout the summer.

Like most Gen Xers, video games always have been a big part of my life. In fact, I still love playing Frogger, only instead of a glass-top arcade table, I play it on my cell phone.

My daughter and I took turns playing the classic version of the game for nearly five hours last spring during a trip to the emergency room. It was, by far, one of the best ER experiences ever. Among the highlights: only having to stay in the germ-filled waiting area for about 30 minutes before getting admitted to a private room, learning that my daughter didn't suffer internal injuries from her bike crash, and successfully defending the high scores on my favorite video game.

My husband loves video games even more than I do, which is why our children didn't have much choice in becoming future gamers.

Still, so far, we have been pretty careful about which games we play around them, and the games they're allowed to play.

We also try to limit their screen time, but that doesn't seem to be much of an issue yet because of their short attention spans and occasional I-don't-want-to-play-if-I-can't-win-every-time attitudes.

Plus, my husband and I have a habit of, well, hogging the game controllers. ... What can we say? We're competitive, and we've been rescuing Mario from big scary cartoon monsters for decades.

Lately, most of the games our kids have been playing are fitness-related and use our Wii system. Let me tell you: Our 8-year-old daughter puts up a good fight in the boxing ring, and our 3-year-old son plays video golf way better than I play any kind of golf — video, putt-putt or otherwise.

Our 19-month-old son doesn't play video games yet, but he loves to shake the Wii controllers while staring at the TV. He thinks he's playing something. I can't wait to see how he mimics Guitar Hero, the game I'm asking Santa to give the entire family.