A talent for video games.

My 6 year old is incredible at video games. Watching him play is quite impressive as he goes through difficult levels with ease. He has a knack for going about levels in the fastest, easiest way possible. For example today he was playing a game where you need to jump through a checkered board, if you hit the red you died. Without hesitation, he jumped through diagonally, hit the wall, than diagonally leaped once again to the end. It was a clever strategy that he didn't think twice about. He also has amazing memory when it comes to games. I watched him breeze through ten double sided trick doors today and asked him how he knew which doors to go through. He told me that he played this game yesterday and remembered. I asked him how many times he's played this game and he told me it was his second time. Lord knows I wouldn't have remembered which doors to go through even an hour after. He also seems to have a great understanding of depth perception in these games. This is something I always struggled with when playing video games, but comes quite effortlessly for him. He's also shown a bit of talent regarding art, so this isn't as much of a surprise.I know my kid plays video games more than the average six year old which is definitely a factor, practice makes perfect after all. But being a single mom who works and is in school I'm pretty lax about screen time. He spends the majority of his days (9-6) at school/summer camp, so gaming doesn't consume his whole life. Though there have been days he has played the entire day because I never got a break from studying. He's still happy to put the games down and spend time at the pool, but video games is definitely his number one interest. I've always been so unsure of this hobby despite working in the video game industry, just because of the stigma that screen time is wasted time. After really watching my kid play, I couldn't help but notice the positives. His reflexes are strong and he really is using his mind to conquer levels. While I don't have any objections to his passion for gaming, I want to stimulate him in other fields that are similar. I plan to sign him up for kids chess next year but that's all I've got. I wish I could sign him up for an actual sport but the time doesn't permit. I know video games as a sport is definitely on the rise i.e.: eSports, which I would know nothing about if it wasn't for working in the industry. I don't want my kid to be eating Doritos and pissing in a bucket, but I also think he has potential in this field and don't want to stifle it because of the judgements surrounding video games. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2szFkmm