Super Mario Wonder Game Night - Reminding myself to Play
I'm a terrible gamer. Nintendo is the only console I can even pretend to manage. It's a running joke in my family that I am awful, but a really upbeat player. Luckily, I am not at all competitive. Rather than being dismayed that I cannot make it to the top of the flag for a free guy, I'm happy to cheer on my very game-fluent husband and daughter.
Why be a Loser?
It's hard to find activities that we all enjoy. At home, there's a lot of independence. I'll be baking, Daughter One is art-ing, Husband is watching space videos on YouTube, and Daughter Two is building a Lego house nobody else is allowed to look at. Autism. So, when I can find something engaging for all of us, I'm all in. Daughter Two doesn't play but loves to watch and add sound effects while our characters jump and dash around the TV.
Living in Minnesota, you need some solid indoor hobbies, and finding some that hold your family together is essential to avoid seasonal depression and losing your mind. I choose to play and maintain my loser status because I love to hang with my people and I don't mind being the butt of the jokes that bond them.
More or Less Seriously?
More and less really. I have the disease of productivity and gaming feels like wasted time. I don't have any gaming apps on my phone. I typically wouldn't sit down to play Mario on my own, but now I'd like to change that.
When I was a kid I loved Mario 64. I had a million games, like, all of them. I'd have friends over and we'd play Golden Eye, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Mario Party and it never, ever, felt like wasted time. Those are amazing memories and I cherish making them now with my family.
I want to remember that doing something just for fun is not wasted time. I want to play more. I have a great time engaging my kids in play, but even that is productive. I think about how the thing we're doing is good for their motor or social skills. I think about how we can share this activity online. I am always looking at how I can make the most of my time. This is usually a good thing really, why wouldn't I want to keep YOLO in my back pocket? But, a new goal I have is to try spending some time frivolously. I'd like to kick up my feet and beat down Bowser on my own for my own enjoyment.
Maybe I'll try this and find that a lack of productivity means a lack of enjoyment, but I do intend to try. Tonight, after everyone else is in bed because they will insist on joining in, I'm going to light a candle, heat up some hot chocolate, and begin my journey with Mario... or probably Toadette, she's my fav.
What have you done lately just for fun? Do you regularly spend free time feeling free, or could you benefit from finding time to act like a kid again?
Want to give this game a try? Here's my link to it on Amazon! (#ad)
Opmerkingen