A Cautionary Tale for Gaming Parents

I got a Switch earlier this year in anticipation of all the games coming out this year. I'd already played Breath of the Wild on the Wii U, so the first game I picked up was Mario Odyssey.I set up our computer room with optimum toddler comfort in mind - wa-wa, snackies, toy trucks, coloring book and colored pencils, etc. I was hoping to keep him occupied with independent play while I got maybe 45 minutes of game time in before bedtime routine.I was surprised and delighted to find that my toddler abandoned all his toys and opted to sit in my lap, oohing and ahhing over Mario instead. He alternated from sitting fascinated in my lap to hopping and jumping around the room, imitating the noises and motions our favorite plumber makes. Hearing my son shout “WEEHOOO!” as he tried to do the lunge-jump is one of my most cherished memories.He adored when I controlled "froggies", one of his favorite animals. The first stage with a T-rex had him roaring in delight. All the water levels captivated him (playing in water being his second favorite activity, next to playing with cars). Jumping on the moon blew his little toddler brain. The different costumes I had Mario wear expanded his vocabulary (clowns, doctor, cowboy, astronaut).When I would die in a level, he would either giggle and shout "OHHH DANGIT!", or pat my arm and say "sorry mama!".We had a wonderful time playing through Mario together until I finally beat the game and got fatigued with collecting all the Moons. It was then I got a great idea - My son, like most 2.5 year olds, loves car. And trucks, and airplanes, and boats, and construction vehicles, and motorcycles - you know, the works.What if I combined his new love for Mario with his longstanding obsession with cars, and bought Mario Kart?You can only imagine his sheer delight when I started the menu for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it was MARIO on a cart!!! Without any prompting of the title, he dubbed the game "Mario Cars!"Now, you may be asking yourself why I call this a Cautionary Tale. We had a lot of fun together. But when I eventually got tired of Mario Kart after unlocking almost all the content, my son did not. If he so much as sees the Switch, he looks at me with his beautiful brown eyes, wide and eager, and asks "Mario Cars, Mama?!" And I give in. All the different CCs, the Mirror Mode, Battle – I’ve beaten everything.There are no other Switch games. Only Mario Cars. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2HnGNn6