Wii're Ready For Summer!

Have you ever been caught short on something that you were going to figure out later? That precisely describes my next two months. Three children at home, one a newborn. Arizona heat. What are we going to do?

Matthew approached me with an idea - to help me out. "I hope it's not swim classes or something! I'm not haulin' around all these kids and trying to feed one, and wrestle the other one from drowning - I'm just not doing that this year!"

"No no," says he, "it's a way to keep the kids entertained, at home, while getting out their energy . . ."

"I'm listening . . ."

"How 'bout we get a Wii?"

I have heard about them, kinda like the Cabbage Patch doll, Tickle-Me-Elmo, shortages of the past. You are smarter not wanting one. And I'll be darned if I'm gonna pay more than retail for it too like those looneys who paid $3,000 for a Tickle-Me-Elmo that they were going to give the grandchild they hoped to have SOME DAY. Stupid - it hurts my Scotch.

Also every mother, I believe, has something that they do - raising their children - that qualifies them to answer the question, "Why I'm a good mother." There is a huge list of reasons of why I am a less-than-adequate mom - I scream at my kids, I let them eat a pudding cup before lunch or, perhaps sometimes, for lunch, I have taken a nap on the couch while Benjamin watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse, etc. etc.

But every mother is a stickler for something; some don't do tv, some eat organic, some start their kids on the piano at age 3, or potty train by 18 months. Me? Well, I have made sure that we don't do video games at my house. No X-Box, Nintendo, Furby, Digi-dogs, shoot 'em up, foul-language time wasters. Nope. I am the Miss Hannigan of video games. PBSkids.org, yes, FisherPrice.com, yes, ClubPenguin.com, yes and even the occasional MathBlaster. Anything else? NO! Not unless it can be shown to have a non-addictive and pro-educational format!! I will have smart and motivated children, so help me! They will be employed in High School, and go to college, not just rot on my couch eating Doritos!
Kids seem to waste inordinate amounts of time in front of them with no educational benefit WHATSOEVER, and the standards for these games are SO LOW. No, no, I won't allow it!

"But they move with the Wii - and it gets their energy out."

It must be sleep deprivation. It sounds like a good idea. And, I figure that since Christmas is over that it shouldn't be too hard to get one now that its the middle of May. So I call my friend Mish and get the lo-down on what to look for. She has four boys, and that, in my mind, is qualification enough to qualify as an expert on educational toys.
She is an uber careful mom, and she gives me the "thumbs up" on it. Okay. Make a little call to Costco - it's not yet 2pm, so we can go out after Abigail gets home and look around if we need to. "We had a pallet of Wii Fits delivered this morning, and we are all sold out. The closest Wii at a Costco is San Diego, CA."

What?!! You're KIDDING ME! Now, I think I want one a little bit more. Well, I'll just do a little research on my own. So I start calling around. Blockbuster. Let's try that.

Bing. "Ma'am [HOW I HATE THAT TERM!] - let me check, I think we may still have one. Yes, we have a Wii Sport, but we don't do reservations - the first person in the store gets it."
I may be indecisive at times, but I can MOVE when inspired! I got there, and got it the "Wii Sport", an additional controller - with 9 games included(for multi player games), and the driver's wheel attachment, complete with Mario Kart. That's a total of 15 games. Uhhh, yeah, that ought to do it!

The very next lady in the Blockbuster had two little boys and said with a frantic look, "I heard you had a Wii!" Well, she got nuthin' but disappointment as I loaded up my boxes and walked over to the checkout line. Now, I'm not totally sure, but I'm bettin' that she would have let the air out of my tires if she'd known which car was mine.

So, we have one. OH MY GOSH! We have one! Matthew set it up lickety split. We tried out bowling first. Matthew seemed to keep dropping the ball at odd speeds. Abigail took to it like fish to water. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! STRIKE!

For Benjamin, we tried out the Mario Kart. Try to follow my reasoning, "because he likes the movie 'Cars'." It made sense at the store, okay!! Actually, he just holds the wheel at the same angle so that his kart never really passes over the finish line, it just keeps going in a circle with a little prompt that keeps saying, "Turn around!"

I'm starting to wonder about this brilliant plan, and then I see Matthew playing Mario Kart with Benjamin. *light goes on*

"Darling?"
"Yeah"
"Did you want me to get the Wii for the kids this summer, or was it all a plot just because YOU wanted it?

He avoids my eye, and just mumbles . . .

AH HA! You TRICKED ME! AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!

But, if it gets us through the summer, I'll just let this one slide. Come on over folks, we have Wii! Now, lets try this bowling one again. :D