Can I just say....

.....how much I love technology.....

Let's start with the playstation and games.  I love them.  They are the most stress relieving thing I have ever done.  Don't laugh!  I may be 52 but ever since my brother put the first little black and white games on his first computer I have been hooked.  For a compulsive personality like mine it was the ultimate saviour. I don't drink, smoke or gamble because I know myself too well.  Instead I craft, garden and play games to satisfy my urge to be doing something all the time. AND to be winning !!!!  I am very competitive.

.From the Sega Mega drive to the Playstations 1, 2 AND 3 and the XBOXes I love them all and we have them all.  I have played games with my kids and I have played by myself.  I have my own set of games, mainly because the men in this house love war games and role-play games which I "can't stand" and "can't be bothered with" respectively.

So I play basic games that give you that adventure and puzzle solving stuff with no realistic blood and guts.

Next up my Amazon Kindle.  God what can you say when a device comes along that is acutally useful to people with physical limitations.  It has become increasingly difficult for me to hold a book, especially a heavy hardcover book to read.  I can't sit at the table all day reading, I need to be comfortable, so the Kindle has saved me.  I have already read about 20 books on it since I got it for my birthday in April  I can buy free books and that is all I have done so far - there are thousands to choose from and I can shop online for other things too.  It is amazing.

Then there is my phone. A Samsung Omnia.  Calendar, camera, phone, diary, phone book, internet surfing, bluetooth and yes, games. My whole "World's contracted thus" into 2 portable gadgets - phone and kindle.

What more can any modern woman want?  I have an iPhone too but as that is for home use it sits on my desk and the calls divert to the Omnia. Again, how amazing is that?

I know parents these days worry a lot about the kids and the technology.  But both mine have grown up with it and both seem to be normal, well-adjusted individuals.  They get so much from it and they seem safe to me.  I know bad things are happening out there but isn't it the case that the kids who do get into strife are not adequately equipped emotionally to cope with what is thrown at them  That is how it seems to me.  And what use is banning them from the technology? We all know what that does.  It makes the thing more desirable and they do it secretly anyway.  When my son was younger and just starting to explore technology and the internet universe, the family room became the new computer hub.  Desks and computers were moved down there from the rumpus room upstairs.  So I was there, not watching, just being present and sometimes participating.  We talked about the dangers and when news reports pertinent were on the TV we talked about them.  

All any parent can do is inform, educate and demonstrate.    Not proscribe and punish.  And If we have done that well enough the children will self-regulate.  But we need to reach that point when they are ready and then BACK OFF.  For me that age was about 16.  If they haven't learned from me what they needed to know about life and the world by then there is not much more I could do about it.

Of course I hear you say that we learn our whole lives and yes we do indeed. But the principles by which we need to live our lives are learned early, in our formative years.

From then on we are on our own and we make and learn from our own mistakes.

So back to my playstation - Ratchet and Clank All -4-One is due to be released here in a few weeks - and I am holding on for dear life...it will be my early christmas present.

Come on now 'fess up! Don't be a closet gamer, be proud!!  

What games are you playing?

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