Of the Devil, I Swear

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I did something we swore we'd never do.

We bought the kids Nintendo DS games.

I don't remember which one of us came up with the idea, but for the sake of argument let's say it was my husband. (I will when I complain about it for the next few years.) He said, "They're good kids. We have so much traveling to do. They need something to keep them busy while we're house hunting."

All those things might be true, but I think we were more enticed by all the really quiet children playing handheld video games at the Orlando airport. The terminal was filled with kids and every one of them from about four-years-old on up was playing a Nintendo or PSP. The silence was eerie, but...peaceful.

So we were a video-game-free family for more than eight years. But now we've gone over to the dark side.

At first, the games didn't bring us much peace anyway because the kids were constantly asking for help. Since I've been video-game-free since the days of Pac Man, I wasn't much help. But once they got the hang of things, well, it really was nice for them to have something to do while we were meeting with Realtors and Lawyers.

But it was during our long layover in Dallas on our way home last week that I snapped.

Oh, wait. Did I not mention that when my husband went out to buy the two Nintendo DS games, he also bought himself a PSP? Yeah. He did.

I spent almost seven hours in the Dallas airport staring at the top of the three heads I love most in the world. They were gone. Lost in their own little worlds. Aliens might as well have sucked out their brains.

I decided right then and there that the Nintendo games would go away when we got home. They will be for plane rides only.

It's funny though. The games have been sitting on a table by the front door since we got home and the kids haven't touched them once. My husband is another story.

I may not be able to put down my foot and take his PSP away from him like I can with the kids. But I can nag him to death about how much I hate it.

Too bad his brain was sucked out and he's not listening to me anyway.