Screams radiated from one bedroom, while a maniacal laugher rang out from another room.
It was the beginning of the perfect conclusion to awesome spring break day. Both my kids were playing quietly upstairs in their rooms. They had played all day, either with me or friends. I listen as my daughter asked my son, “Come on bud, let’s go play Minecraft.” Peter, “Really?” And off they went to play together. I say to myself, “You have parented well, now go reward yourself. You are winning!” It is spring break so Cork popped the cork on a meaty red wine! “Breathe beautiful wine, breathe”
They silence was beautiful. I was rather proud of my kids. They rarely need to be disciplined and are both amazingly intelligent. They were playing together in this virtual Minecraft world. Apparently, my daughter invited Peter to play in her world. They separated, he in his room and she in hers on separate devices. Suddenly screams of terror, cries from my daughter’s room. Sobbing hiccups crying, a barely audible, “He Godzilla’ed my world, he put lava everywhere!” Obviously, I’m not too informed on the Minecraft lingo or the complexity. I had read it was good for three dimensional thinking and brain development so I became a fan. In the other room, we hear laughter, maniacal laughter. Peter is obviously pleased with himself, he had finally won something against his older wiser sister. Peter saw himself as Peter the Minecraft dominator, Peter the destructor.
My daughter’s sadness quickly grew into anger and then acceptance. Rowan would surely rise like a Phoenix from the Minecraft world ashes. My son, well… we all learned why he’s blocked so much on Minecraft. He was apparently known to Godzilla worlds with lava, he was indeed Peter the destructor. My husband and I often talk, she is a genius with the morality of a saint. Peter has a bit more creative genius with flexible morality. He’ll either go to prison or find the cure for cancer. Both are incredibly smart. I think about the possibility of one or both inheriting my genetics. Tonight I saw myself in them both, I laughed silently with Peter and cried internally for my daughter. Her forgiveness was humbling and his apology priceless, “It’s just a game, I’d never hurt you in real life row.”
My hope is my children see my struggles and learn from my mistakes. They recognize the symptoms, they watch out for each other as adults. They learn from my openness of my own mental illnesses. They adapt and overcome, they are kind, they grow up knowing how to handle their superpower. Something I only learned as an adult.
I parented tonight and the wine was wonderful.
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Games and sports are ritualised warfare – an evolutionary advance into culture – progress!
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What is Minecraft?
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It is a cool sandbox game that is made entirely out of blocks. You can pretty much build anything you want, fight monsters, farm, and more. It’s a pretty cool game! Link to website: https://minecraft.net/
And wiki: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Minecraft_Wiki
You should also look up a few let’s plays.
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Nice! I guess I saw this before it was meant to be published… all I saw was the beginning…
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I’ve never played it…. Looks bananas.. 😀
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My poor kiddo was in tears a few days ago over Minecraft. He had built a huge world, complete with the Seattle Space Needle, lots of buildings, and had spent hours on it. While he slept, some “friends” of a friend destroyed his world. I asked him if he could keep people out of his world, but he said no. Maybe he doesn’t know how to do it. We’ll have to figure it out.
I wish my mother had been so open about her bipolar illness. Well, let me back up. I wish she had been diagnosed and it had all been out in the open when I was a little kid, so I didn’t have to grow up in a crazy household. She and I had a really bad dynamic of her verbally attacking me when she was manic. I understand now what was going on, but she would never talk about her illness, not even to Dad. Talking about it and bringing it out into the open (at least within a family) is the best way to handle it. My mom wasn’t properly diagnosed and medicated until I was about 16 and in 11th grade. By that time, I was almost out of the house. The damage was done. I so envy your children, that you are teaching them about your illness.
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My grandmother has bipolar, she will never admit it though… So, as a result, she will never be medicated properly. It is hard. We love her, and always will, but it is just hard to know someone you love needs help, but will never get it.
Your kid needs better friends. I mean really, that is so NOT cool! I wish I could tell you how to block people from the server, but sadly, I can’t even afford a server! I hope you can find something! Maybe this’ll help?
MineCraft wiki: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Minecraft_Wiki
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That picture reminds me of being a kid.
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“He’ll either go to prison or find the cure for cancer. Both are incredibly smart.”
If that were any more true I’d be crying from laughter.
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I tried Minecraft and was enjoying it but somehow kept getting killed by lava all by myself. Your daughter was very forgiving – that’s beautiful. You son sounds like my grandsons – they didn’t have fun unless they broke something or hurt themselves.
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Interesting… sounds like a story. A very MineCrafty story.
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