By Tim Sullivan
I bet the guy in your life might like a 10-pack of daydreams for Father’s Day. Because even dads enjoy fleeting moments where they forget they are running 10 minutes late, driving a kid to a soccer game, in a minivan…
Yesterday Sirius was tuned to 1st Wave and “Oliver’s Army” by Elvis Costello was playing and even though I’ve heard the song a thousand times it struck as me as pretty fantastic and poignant in the kind of nostalgic conjuring that only XM radio can pull off. I lost myself in thought trying to remember how old I was when I first heard that song and then I drifted off to thinking I need to start seeing more live music and then there were the lyrics “…and I would rather be anywhere else THAN here TOO-DAYYY!” Then a salty seven year old torpedoed the moment from the back seat: “This is probably the worst song I’ve heard in my entire life.”
Elliott would live in my shirt pocket if I allowed it, but occasionally an activity where we can have some space is a good thing, too. Take video games for example. He loves them and I’m not exactly what you’d call a gamer. When I was young we didn’t have Atari like everyone else. We had Intellivision, the maker of Pong. The controller was a stovetop dial on a box that allowed you to move a single line to hit a ball (unless you got nutty and played doubles). If my parents’ goal was to swiftly lead me to the sanctimonious position that video games were a waste of time, they succeeded.
Studies show children who spend time playing video games are reaping cognitive benefits and are generally more tech savvy than their peers (and parents). I don’t want a pale, zombie kid with early onset carpal tunnel just so he can get into Georgia Tech, but some degree of gaming is inevitable. Elliott liked playing Minecraft on the IPad which is a bizarre, world-building game with graphics that seem to be an homage to the Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” video. But it was fine and quiet at least.
Then we met Stampy Cat. This is the Nom-de-Game of some Brit who narrates his every move in a cheerful lilt while playing Minecraft and posts them to YouTube. Apparently kids devour these videos. Who knew? I made sure Elliott wasn’t somehow feeding dollar bills into the iPad for the YouTube machine to dispense to Stampy Cat on the other side, but why would a kid want to watch a grown man play video games? Elliott put it to me this way: “Mommy watches TV shows of people trying to decide which house to buy.” This is true.
But Stampy was becoming the fifth member of our family who never seemed to shut up. In a desperate maneuver to stop the weirdness, we caved and bought an Xbox and set it up in the basement playroom. At least this way Elliott would be the one actually playing the game. It’s freaky because in the FIFA soccer game Cristiano Ronaldo looks more like an actual human being than he does in real life, but I’m almost certain the gaming overlords aren’t watching us.
So far so good. Elliott can only bear to be apart from us for so long, so it keeps the screen time in check. I might even start playing with him when he gets a little older and is less attached to my hip. For now though if he asks me to join him I close my eyes, cover my ears and flop on the ground chanting “Tinker Toy! Tinker Toy! Tinker Toy.” That affords me a few reflective moments where I can ask my Magic 8 Ball if the Talking Heads will ever do a reunion tour.
Tim Sullivan grew up in a large family in the Northeast and now lives with his small family in Oakhurst. He can be reached at tim@sullivanfinerugs.
Yes! This is so great!
Yes! This is so great!