Monday, June 11, 2012

Mindscrambler Central

Scott Adams
It's only been three days since my personal mindscramblers (kids) finished school, and I've already had to surgically remove the laptop twice. They could spend all day gaming, which would make it very quiet around here.

So why do I fight it? I want quiet, don't I?

If it was quiet, then Writer Me could get some work done. (There are only 62 days left until WriteOnCon!)

Except there's productive quiet, like when they're reading a book (heaven forbid!), and then there's guilty quiet - the kind that keeps the synapses in my brain from firing properly because Mother Me knows my children should GET OFF THE COMPUTER! and DO SOMETHING ACTIVE! or FIND SOMETHING CREATIVE!, etc.

However. Such outbursts are not a good thing to resort to in this house because DH works from home, and anything above a hush provokes him to go into dragon mode. (You thought I wrote fantasy? Dragonkeeping is my day job.)

So. I tell myself it's a good thing I signed my oldest up for an online class. It will keep his mind from turning to MMORPG mush. Earth and Environmental Science starts today - and he gets credit for it. Mother Me is happy. :)

But. Am I depriving him of a lazy, play-until-your-eyes-bleed summer at home? He doesn't have too many of those left before The Pointy-Haired Boss gets to him. Actually, TPHB's pie-chart looks kind of like mine. Mother Me is sad. :(

Mother Me will also be carting the younger one around to basketball camps this summer. Two birds with one stone there: No computer+Doing Something Active. Mother Me is happy. :)

But. Am I depriving him of one-on-one time with his brother? Between homework, sports and other miscellaneous activities, they barely have time to fight over the bathroom during the school year. Mother Me is sad. :(

So. I guess Gamer Me will give in and allow plenty of Minecrafting, Runescaping, and COD Team Deathmatching, whenever there's a chance this summer. Then Writer Me can relax and get some words on the page. ;)

PS - I've also got Grandma sleepovers and pooltime scheduled in, because what's summer without those? Reader Me likes that plan. :)

3 comments:

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

My boys are younger, but I know this will be an issue eventually. I think it's all good, as long as they're not ONLY gaming, and they're generally well rounded... Then it will all work out. I spent my summers reading, which is solitary and sedentary. :)

Matthew MacNish said...

Balance. I allow my kids a lot of free reign during the summer, as long as they keep their grades up during the school year. The key is to make sure they get out of the house at least a couple times a week. Sounds like you've got that covered.

Carolyn V said...

I keep my kids busy too. They get a lot of time to themselves, but if we don't have things planned, they're miserable.

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