My son loves video games. A little too much actually, and I have some parental guilt about it. Despite having been a gamer myself since the same age, which for me was the Atari 2600. I spent whole days and weeks back then battling dragons as a knight in the shape of a single square. I haven’t played them much since my heyday. But recently I have been playing with him. He is a teenager now and I’m realizing that soon I won’t have the opportunity to play anything with him any more. So I took the plunge… into the Sea of Thieves.
It is a difficult game requiring players to be quick and accurate with the fingers on the controls. And I’m not that great at it. We’ve played this game off and on over a couple years. But recently I’ve hunkered down and spent time on it. Watched videos. And practiced. We decided the best way for us to get better was to practice in player vs player situations. I’ve made progress. After a particularly fun and rewarding conquest of another team, we were cheering and celebrating. He acknowledge my progress and actually said:
“I’m proud of my Dad for some reason”
He’s never complimented me before. He doesn’t even say “Dad” anymore, but rather, calls me by my first name.
I was touched. It is not a moment I will forget. Thank you son, I’m proud of you too. And I know the reasons.
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