A Simple Miracle

Like most parents bringing up kids in this technological age, I tremble under fear of the dual forces of computer and television. I try to remember all the things I did for entertainment, but I get the "aww, Mooooooom," reaction. It's so bad that back when the boys were just starting school, I had to enforce a 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off rule with the computer or playstation just to protect their arms. Yeah, really. They came back from school complaining about their hands hurting. Despite their fervent hopes for a "does not need to work in class" pass, when their symptoms turned out to be real, I restricted any hand/arm injury aggravating behavior at home. They get one turn a day on games that we determine will hurt their hands based on repetitive motion.

You might be wondering where I'm going with this, but the background is necessary to understand my moment of pure joy :).

Last night after family time where we watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD... (Let me tell you that is a whole 'nother story because we watch it several nights a week and have quickly progressed from the earlier episodes into the college life which deals with events and issues requiring...more emotional maturity. "Can't we skip the kissing," is a frequent comment, much along the lines of the little boy in Princess Bride.) Anyway, back on topic. We'd started early for some reason and there were exactly 30 minutes before bedtime.

My youngest says to my oldest, "Do you want to take the turn?"

After confirming that I hadn't misheard and getting over the heart attack of the offer rather than a screaming fight over who gets the last turn, I got the second shock.

The answer was no!

The reason? The oldest had just received his Amazon order with four new books in a Forgotten Realms series he's been reading. And the youngest? After several false starts, thanks to an Anne McCaffrey short story in English class, he dove head first into the surprising (not ;)) number of McCaffrey's I have on my shelf having collected them for years.

While I'd love to see them spend more time outdoors and become more independent about getting themselves around...right now they go to Jamba Juice and back...at least I have proof positive that something is more important than the electronics they use to fill what seems like almost every minute of the day.