Confessions of a Gamer Mom

[Circe]

WG contributor Laura is a thirty-something mother and wife, but also proudly wears another title—gamer. In this article <a href="http://www.womengamers.com/articles/confessions.php">Confessions of a Gamer Mom</a>, Laura dispels some common myths about gaming and parenting.

“But video games are so awful.” Just like Elvis, rock music and MTV, huh? I’ve heard the litany of negative accusations pointed toward the video game industry , but I’m not convinced it’s time to throw out the console and erase the memory cards just yet.

[huelgoatforest]

To tell the truth, I think this article only grazes the tip of the gaming iceberg. Not everyone who games has such a balanced lifestyle.

[Meera]

Excellent article, Laurie! I couldn't agree more.

Dayraven and I find that we are very close to our boys due to our gaming interests. Do they get outside and see the sun on occasion? Of course! They are big time backpackers, leaving on a 50 miler this Thursday. But you can bet when we all have a time at home, you'll find us kicking butt in Soul Calibur, exploring new worlds in WoW, or following the storyline in the latest rpg.

I love being a gaming family!

A

[lulu]

I'm in total agreement with you Laura. Nice article.

My own child is learning to read from game manuals, he's fascinated by them, he enjoys them almost as much as he enjoys the games, go figure.

Also I find that he talks to me more when we're playing a game together and I prize these times and the enjoyment we get from them. He can be a stubborn little cuss when it comes to discussing things, so if playing games with him will encourage him to communicate with me, then that's what I'll do.

He's never been a real sporty kid, but I bet if I got him DDR and a dancepad he'd be jumping all around, so yeah I'm gonna try to work that out.

He's been a gamer since he was old enough to manipulate a mouse and many of his PC games are acturally learning games and he enjoys them as much as he enjoys Mario.

Some folks may question my parenting skills. But maybe they should be paying attention to those spastic little anklebiters they're raising.

[Calisto]

Some folks may question my parenting skills. But maybe they should be paying attention to those spastic little anklebiters they're raising.

LOL lulu. My kids both love games as well. We have a lot of educational games that they enjoy. I'd swear my youngest (who's 3) has learned most of his shapes, etc, by playing those games than he has from me. Not that I haven't been trying

[mizzg]

Thanks for reading! I wouldn't say that I've actually accomplished a "balanced" lifestyle (lol, I wish!), but I do my best to both set limits/make time for gaming in my family since we enjoy it so much. BTW, I've enjoyed reading your comments!

Happy gaming,
Laura

[Itanya_Blade]

Thanks for reading! I wouldn't say that I've actually accomplished a "balanced" lifestyle (lol, I wish!), but I do my best to both set limits/make time for gaming in my family since we enjoy it so much. BTW, I've enjoyed reading your comments!

Happy gaming,
Laura

I keep my eyes open for all the advice I can get. Raz and I don't have kids yet, but when we do I hope to keep all the things I've learned from all the gamer moms here!

[Akasha_WoW]

Hi there,

I just had to come say how much I enjoyed that article! I posted it on my forum for other's to read, in which they all enjoyed :

/cheer! she hit it right on the nose. Balance is key. I've heard too many stories and BS like "these two people commited suicide because of music" or "these people did this horrible thing because of games" blah blah blah blah...it's all a escape goat and it has always pissed me off. props to laura! =)

Finally... nice one Laura Gulledge - i salute you!

She could be my mother or wife anytime

*looks curiously at R2D2....

The Knights who say...Ni! is a site that visits mine occassionally, they saw the link and decided to help spread it around

found this particularly exhilarating article by a gaming mom, highly recommended read!

Just thought I would share the great feedback, keep up the excellent work!

[Meera]

How nice, Akasha! We're so lucky here at WG to have a community so supportive and in tune with women gamers of all ages.

A

[Akasha_WoW]

I think it's great what you have here, it's on my list of sites I visit regurlarly and always find interesting things to read. I remember back when I starting playing EQ and people found out I was a girl.... it was like I had a 3rd arm I have a site that I rant and rave on, which will be used to tell the tales of my WoW adventures, but this story gave me the idea for the latest post on it...

You can read it if you want.... not many do lol, and it's certainly not as good as yours Laurie

[Calisto]

hehe, ya being a gaming girl has so many options to it in regards to response. Good write up there

[mizzg]

Thanks for sharing the feedback! It means a great deal to me.
Womengamers.com rocks!
BTW, Akasha, your sig site is great--I enjoyed reading about your views/your experiences!
Happy Gaming,
Laura Gulledge

[parnell]

To tell the truth, I think this article only grazes the tip of the gaming iceberg. Not everyone who games has such a balanced lifestyle.

Not everyone who does ANYTHING has such a balanced lifestyle, stop trying to blame this on gaming.

Nice article BTW.

I am so tired of hearing TV watchers, bar hoppers, movie goers, and sexaholics tell me how gaming ruins people's lives.

[ShivaDoll]

Nice article Laura!

Very funny cause I recognize this situation exactly. Even with the same game. My 5 year old daughter & I are playing FFX-2 now and enjoying it although it doesn't have the thrill of FFX. Last year, when we were in the middle of that one (which took us months and months, but that's another subject ), the game-imagination actually turned out to be quite useful to her. Instead of being afraid of monsters in her bedroom at night, she now told me proudly that she would summon an aeon if she had the feeling monsters would turn up

[ividia]

Great Article! I'm in the same boat being a mom gamer. DH and sons (14,12,12,11) are gamers too. I usually will have 2-3 RPG games (rightn now FFX and Summoner) in progress at any given time so when I get frustrated I can switch. I also have a couple of standards when I just need to kill something (Gauntlet).

I am always amazed at how people in general view video games. It reminds of the religious right school I was sent to and their take on most music. There's also the completely clueless crowd that will jump on the bandwagon about games being a bad influence, like the one mother at the Wal Mart who didn't want to buy her son GTA because of the name but chose another game with a more innocuous title (but involved the Yakuza). Hello?? No less violent, probably more so.

I will not give up my games and I certainly don't expect my children to do so. With proper supervision, children can be allowed quite a bit.