Monday, March 8, 2010

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The DS is the Bane of My Existence

First off, I have absolutely nothing but respect for the Nintendo DS - this is not a product bashing post. This is a "me-bashing" post - I simply cannot manage the presence of the DS in my house. It is the bane of my existence and it's all my fault...

I have five kids - one son too old to care about DS, one girl (who is mildly interested and has started saying she wants one - God help me) and then three boys, under 10, who are driving me completely crazy!

We now have 2 DS units because one was going to cause me to jump off a tall building. My 9-year-old was the original recipient of one two Christmases ago. He doesn't share this device well so when my 4-year-old would want to play, the older one didn't want to relinquish control. Not only that, he becomes completely deaf when he is playing - oblivious to all, which makes my head explode. The littler one then got upset because he wanted to play and didn't get to so....

This past Christmas, he got one.

Now, it is a way to entertain them and I suppose that's ok. But I also have a toddler...

It's now an exercise in stealth to play the DS in our house because once the baby spies the dreaded device, he demands to hold it. He has no idea what it does, but he knows it's important, makes interesting noises and is in demand. Like a cat, he already understands the value of having something someone wants but he doesn't want to give it up. And I think deep down, he's ok with buggering his brothers by not giving back the DS.

So, here I am, in the middle, trying to keep the DS away from the baby and let the others play theirs, keep the tiny game chips accounted for and not getting sucked up in the vacuum or run through the wash because someone stuffed one in his pocket (that did happen!).

I understand this is self-inflicted. It's my fault. I've gone down the slippery slope and there's no going back up the rabbit hole. I only hope my experiences may help save the reader some heartache 0r maybe you all can send me some ideas on how to manage this better, because I am failing and getting more grey hair by the day. Help.

5 comments:

EYES4MUSIC said...

My suggestion is to look for a cheap, used, maybe even broken DS that someone is willing to give or sell to you and get it for the baby. This way they have something that they can play with. Because really it is just a matter of mimicking his older siblings. Or maybe one of those learning handheld things. Like a leapfrog or VTech makes.

Unknown said...

Deedra - that is a great idea! Thanks so much!

Jenny said...

My niece is obsessed with her DS...but the leapfrog systems are great as well!

Veronica Lee said...

Hi! Visiting from MBC. Love your blog.

Unknown said...

Thanks Veronica! :)

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