Day 23 of the 30-Day Challenge: Procrastination Station
Task: To play a PS4 video game with my youngest son, Little Man, for at least 30 minutes.
Reason for Task: I haven’t played video games for years and I’m not sure that I’ve ever played one with Little Man. I have three other people in the house that are definitely more adept as video game companions than I am. So, I’ve been able to bypass PS4 participation. However, I thought it would be something different to do and would allow me to spend time with Little Man, while he puts two of his favorite pastimes together in one setting (Legos and video games). I’m talking about playing the PS4 Lego Marvel Avengers video game.
Duration of Task: 1 day.
Outcome: Let’s just say that I lasted a whole two minutes before Little Man took my game controller and stated that maybe I should just watch him play this time. I was pretty content with this suggestion as I was totally clueless as to which character I was playing at any given time, how to move my character, what the object of the game was, and so on. And, my son was very content to proceed along without my useless assistance. To my defense, Little Man neglected to give me a crash course intro on the game rules and operations. He just jumped right into the game like any other 8-year old probably would thinking that, by sticking a game controller in his Mom’s hand, she would quickly figure out what to do. As a matter of fact, Toodlez and Junior both stated that you kind of just learn the mechanics of how to play the game by trial and error experimentation. Well, I’m more of a read-the-instruction-manual mom when it comes to things like technology/electronics and I don’t think my 8-year old had enough attention span to wait for Mom to PS4 prep. He was ready to play!
One thing I did manage to do while watching my son complete Level 4 of the video game was to catch some amazing banter between Little Man, Junior, Toodlez, and myself. Here is some of the discourse that took place:
Little Man to me (after about two minutes of me playing the game): Maybe you should just watch me this time.
Little Man to me (when taking the game controller from me): I’m letting you rest. You may do something you’re not supposed to do. I’m not saying you’re bad. You’re just pretty young doing this.
Toodlez to Little Man (once she noticed he was content on having me watch instead of play): Why don’t you let Mom play?
Little Man’s response to Toodlez (above): Be quiet!
Me to Little Man (although he never responded because he was so fixated on the game): How did you learn to play this? Did you read the instruction manual or something?
Junior to Little Man (when his character was in a tough spot): Alright, I need some help.
Little Man’s response to Junior (above): I’m not helping you right now!
Junior: Unlimited!
Junior: Finish him!
Little Man: Stop electrocuting me!
Little Man (response after annihilating his opponent): Bye-Bye.
While I didn’t actually play the Play Station game with Little Man for any noteworthy length of time, I still think he appreciated my willingness to play. He was simply happy that I took an interest in a beloved activity that he immensely enjoys and attentively observed his brilliance in playing the game. I was able to witness first-hand how good he is with strategizing and cooperating with others in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (others like Thor, Loki, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk). It was like watching my child perform on the big screen at the movies. Action-Adventures are my favorite and PS4 Lego Marvel Avengers didn’t disappoint.
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