Shut Up!

Those two little words changed my summer.  Let me back up.  My oldest child has a Minecraft addiction.   He plays Minecraft on the computer, while watching a YouTube video of someone else playing Minecraft on the iPad.  He talks about nothing but Minecraft and wears his two Minecraft shirts almost continuously.  Obsession.  Really unhealthy.  This weekend I came downstairs and found him crying in front of the computer because someone killed him when he was wearing his diamond armor.  (Not sure about what this means, but I think it's really hard to find diamonds and therefore probably took him a really long time to find enough to make the armor?)  That same day we were all going to run errands.  Evan called down for Caden to stop playing because we were leaving and Caden yelled, "Shut Up!" to him.  Of course, Evan apologized and told Caden he could keep playing his game.  No, wait, I got that wrong.  Evan got mad.  Not out-of-control-rage like I get, but Evan-mad.  Long story short, Caden is no longer allowed to play any devices (after much discussion game consoles are now included under the term, "device" at our house.)  until the end of the summer.  Minecraft is deleted from our computer and his iPod as well as the iPad.  He's going cold turkey.

I know this sounds stupid, but I was afraid to do anything this drastic, even though I knew he needed a device intervention.  I really thought it would be like denying a heroine addict his daily fix.  But it's not.  And I'm so much happier.  It's a change in him like when he started taking his "Focus Pill."  He's interacting with the other kids.  He's doing imaginative play.  He's helping housebreak Jack- a little.  He talks to me.  He's talking about Minecraft still, but I'm hoping "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" won't apply here.  I'm hoping for "Out of sight, out of mind."  He's unplugged.  I'm mad at myself for letting it get so out of hand that he's at a loss of what to do without his devices.  It's just became such a way of life for him.  I'm glad Evan took the giant leap and cut him off.  Way to unplug him Evan!  Being greener and a good parent all in one!