A few months ago I quit playing all the Facebook games. Cold turkey.
And now. With a nice hot and juicy turkey heading toward me, I felt like I needed to confess something: I fell off the wagon.
Yes, that's right. I'm playing those time-sucking games again. And then some. But here's the thing. You expected the "but" right? Because when have I not had a very valid and legitimate reason behind anything?
Well, there was some time over the course of this last year that I was not in the best of health. During this time, I worked 100% from home when I could even work and I did 0 traveling. Which we all loved.
In the last month or so I've started traveling again and kidlets are none too pleased with my going MIA after 7 straight months at home. So the remedy?
Facebook games. You see, I play these games with my two little chickadees.
Petville is all 5yo and Happy Aquarium is 2yo's "pet fish"
Farmville, though, is where we have the most value and I'll tell you why. Each kidlet has a pet dog on the farm. They help me manage and decorate and all that. When I have to leave for a trip, we count out how many days I will be gone and we plant crops accordingly. The kids pick out what plant and where on the farm we plant it. And then while I'm gone, they go "take care" of the farm via my sister's / husband's / brother's FB accounts.
And then, the reward for being patient and as good as possible while I'm gone? We get to harvest crops when I get home! It's an easy, free and fun way of spending some extra quality time with the kids right after I get home and it doesn't take very long nor is it difficult.
It has really helped our little family sort out the time thing, because most little kids have a hard time defining the time concept anyway.
So yeah. That's my confession. Quality time with some Facebook games on the side.
Do you guys have creative ways of helping your kids cope with different things? I'd love to hear them!
When I leave for a trip,
9 comments:
Well, since I only have one kid still at home, I'd say cooking food is the only value I offer at this point in the form of mother/son bonding. ;) But I have to say, Farmville was my go-to distraction tool when I was waiting for my agent to review my full (pre-signing). I played for HOURS. And then, after I signed with her, I found I was too busy to play and quit. Pretty much cold turkey. But that's not to say I don't visit every now and then, just to see how the old farmstead is doing. ;)
I've never played any of the games, to be honest. I'm just not much of a gamer. But that sounds like a neat thing to do with your kids. I'm sure it's hard to be away from them. SOunds like you're very creative on how to make it better!
I don't travel much but I love the connectivity between you and your kids. What a great idea to remind them that mommy is coming home, that in their way, they get to be with mommy while she's gone. You're so smart, Windy.
Ohmigosh! That is so, so cute!
We started playing this online game called Wizard 101 a couple years ago. Before it, I'd never been into video games at all. But when my husband travels, we can all get on the game and "meet" up with him. We can chat on the game and our virtual selves run off and quest with each other.
It's WAY more fun than just having that lame convo at the end of the day. We're spending TIME together, even it's just virtually.
So, I'm totally down with your excuse!
Confession. I started up with Farmville again. I'd quit cold turkey. And now it's sucked me back in. But I've ceased to share every little thing because I know that annoys people. I'm now just doing it for my enjoyment and distraction. I will not let it overrun everything.
Wow, that is a great idea. I don't play those games on facebook, but I hope to after I get that degree. =D
Okay, this cracked me up because my daughter used to love playing with a virtual dog when I was on facebook. But since I deleted my account she actually asked me the other day what happened to her dog. Would somebody else adopt it or would it be languishing sadly in its cage? She knows it's a virtual pet, but she still thought about it like a living creature!
Oh what a cute idea. We haven't done anything like that. They draw pictures for me to take on my trip. Not that I go away very often anymore.
That's a sweet way to keep up with some quality time. It's so hard and it seems that the years just speed up faster and faster. Take the quality time where you can get it.
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