I left the guys this morning at 9:00 am to take Teddy to puppy training. Nick couldn't go with me because he has a virus and still isn't feeling well. The two of them were playing video games. Now, it is 5:41 pm and, guess what? They are playing video games, still. My motherly requests that they try doing something else has fallen on deaf ears. The fatherly response is to keep playing so why should the boy stop? This is definitely something that I don't think is healthy for Nick, but no amount of nagging will bring my husband to my side. One of the things I hate about all-day-video-game days is that they start yelling at the screen. Really? I frequently ask Nick, "Does it help to yell at the programming?"
Apparently, it does.
I'm bored with this argument and yet I can see many unfortunate effects of all this. Sometimes I concede that, when he's sick, Nick might as well be playing video games as lying glumly in his bed. I'm not one of those moms that say 'no' to any television when a kid is sick. I know what it feels like to be too sick to read and it's nice to let the TV entertain me then. I tried audio books, but get lost in the story when I fall asleep in the middle of the disk and have to figure out where I was when I drifted off. Listening to a book is much easier for me when I'm on my feet, doing mundane chores like cleaning the kitchen. During a good audio book, my kitchen is never cleaner.
I started listening to a new audio book today, 'Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova. It has a good beginning. A girl finds a mysterious book in her father's library ... and then it spirals down into yet another vampire story. At least there are no werewolves in it, yet. The best and most predictable part about vampire stories is that itchy feeling that the main character gets late in the afternoon as the light ebbs, but then bats come out. Bats? Really?
Okay, I'm not being fair. I like this book so far, despite the vampire. It's narration is a three layer deal. The girl talks. The father reluctantly and fearfully talks to the girl. The academic advisor talks to the father, fear and dread in his voice. It's an interesting structure, but since the academic instructor has disappeared, that part will have to be suspended. So far, I haven't found much to be fearful about except the probability that there is truth in origins of Dracula, Vlad, the Impaler, who impaled many of his enemies and some of his subjects. Ew. Do I really need to hear the details of this?
And yet, I continue to listen to this book in the same way that Nick and Mike continue to play a game that annoys them to some extent. Maybe I should try yelling at the book to see if it helps.
Thank you for listening, jb
Apparently, it does.
I'm bored with this argument and yet I can see many unfortunate effects of all this. Sometimes I concede that, when he's sick, Nick might as well be playing video games as lying glumly in his bed. I'm not one of those moms that say 'no' to any television when a kid is sick. I know what it feels like to be too sick to read and it's nice to let the TV entertain me then. I tried audio books, but get lost in the story when I fall asleep in the middle of the disk and have to figure out where I was when I drifted off. Listening to a book is much easier for me when I'm on my feet, doing mundane chores like cleaning the kitchen. During a good audio book, my kitchen is never cleaner.
I started listening to a new audio book today, 'Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova. It has a good beginning. A girl finds a mysterious book in her father's library ... and then it spirals down into yet another vampire story. At least there are no werewolves in it, yet. The best and most predictable part about vampire stories is that itchy feeling that the main character gets late in the afternoon as the light ebbs, but then bats come out. Bats? Really?
Okay, I'm not being fair. I like this book so far, despite the vampire. It's narration is a three layer deal. The girl talks. The father reluctantly and fearfully talks to the girl. The academic advisor talks to the father, fear and dread in his voice. It's an interesting structure, but since the academic instructor has disappeared, that part will have to be suspended. So far, I haven't found much to be fearful about except the probability that there is truth in origins of Dracula, Vlad, the Impaler, who impaled many of his enemies and some of his subjects. Ew. Do I really need to hear the details of this?
And yet, I continue to listen to this book in the same way that Nick and Mike continue to play a game that annoys them to some extent. Maybe I should try yelling at the book to see if it helps.
Thank you for listening, jb
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