A few days later, I heard Ben describing a different character as “cute.” But inside, I cradled that word, longed to hear it again, hoping I hadn’t imagined it. I quickly recovered my cool and tried not to make too big a deal out of it, so as not to embarrass him. The words 'adorable' and 'cute' became frequent words in his vocabulary.Ī day or so later, Ben remarked that Webster was “kind of adorable.”Īdorable? Did I hear that right? Never had such a word come out of Ben before. The Goomba had flipped a switch, and now Ben’s open adoration just kept flowing. That night, Ben slept with his new toy, which he named “Webster Goomez.” My mother agreed, and so for Chanukah she presented Ben with a stuffed Goomba. But still, Mario seemed benign enough, so I let it go.
The whole kill-or-be-killed mentality bothered me.
I could not tune into the intricacies of the different levels or plots, but I did listen as attentively as a tired and confused mother can. And then there was the carnival-like music of Super Mario, the plumber-turned-superhero, who moved through pipes trying to catch or escape bad guys, the worst of whom was a character known as the Goomba.īen loved the game, and played and discussed it nonstop. Our house was filled with the breathy flutes of Zelda and the high-pitched screams of Kirby. Still, I was scared for him how was he going to get through the vicious years of middle school if he showed so much prickliness and anger so easily?Īnd indeed, when along came the tween years, we did end up with days upon days of little boys huddled indoors with consoles yelling at blocky figures running up and down the screen. How could it be that he didn't get it after all his dad and I did to model empathetic behavior?īut if someone is not ready for a developmental phase, they just aren’t. Ben did seem to have a problem with hardheadedness - or perhaps even hardheartedness. The official diagnosis was, “Normal but stubborn,” which seemed exactly right - but was no help at all. I used to worry constantly about this connection, especially when my youngest became a dedicated gamer. But even before his affinity with technology began, I worried about his seeming lack of compassion, and how he angered so easily.įinally we decided to have Ben evaluated at Children’s Hospital. It's easy to associate video games with violence. Facebook Email Susan Senator: Much to my surprise, video games actually brought out my son's softer side.
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