Wii Surprise

The girls were so excited to open gifts this year. I think that this was due in part to a few pre-Xmas family conversations about the Spirit of Giving, and "those less fortunate", and "tight budget this year". They were surprised at the number of gifts laying beneath the tree and shook each one firmly wondering what it might hold. My aunt surprised us all with a huge mailed package containing several wrapped gifts for each of them. After opening a few boxes of clothing and a neat light-up aquarium, O opened a smaller box and squealed in delight, "A Wii Remote!!!! Mom we have a Wii????" K and I were taken aback, but both said simultaneously, "Probably not, sweetheart. Remember, some times gifts are wrapped in recycled boxes, so go ahead and open the box." The words barely left our lips when Thing 1 and Thing 2 screeched "OMG!!! It is a Wii!!!" And there among the shreds of wrapping paper, they had discovered the gaming system of their dreams. (Something their father and I had tossed back and forth as we scrambled for this years gifts, deciding in the end that they'd prefer Rock Band). But to all of our surprise, there was the Wii. We quickly finished our gift-opening and then set-up the system for the girls. Over the next day or so, the girls played the sports games and Super Mario Bros, trying to stay fair and take turns (2 remotes/3 children). Having spent the last 3 days trying to monitor how much time they're each spending playing the video game, I began to wonder what exactly my children are getting out of it. Is is educational? It probably depends on your definition of the word. Is it turning them into "couch potatoes"? They're on their feet and jumping around, so clearly not. Is it turning them into zombies? Today the youngest and oldest were playing Mario Bros. They played simultaneously. When O's character "died" and was about to be resurrected for the umteenth time, B said, "Here, L, I'll just die, too, so we'll have the same amount of lives and can keep going together." Hmm.