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Vent - a barbarian tribe has possessed my mother


Farrar
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I just really need to vent.  I HATE Clash of Clans.  Like, I really, really loathe it.  About six months ago, my mother, who had never really played a video game in her life (I mean, maybe she played Ms. Pac-Man once in 1983 and Words with Friends a few times with my Dad, but really, that was probably the extent of her video game experience) said to my boys, hey, I want you to find a game we could play together online (she doesn't live near us).  The boys immediately were like, you have to join our clan in Clash of Clans!  Fast forward to now and...  she is completely obsessed.  She spends actual money on it obsessed.  If I have to hear one more Clash of Clans conversation between her and my kids, I will lose it.  Lose it.

 

Meanwhile, it is the sort of thing that would have totally run its course in our household.  In fact, one of my ds is also sick of it.  The other one is still pretty into it, but he would have lost interest pretty naturally by now if not for her.  Every one of these things comes and goes with my kids.  Even things other kids get long term mad for like Minecraft my kids can generally take or leave.  But now it's like Clash of Clans has to be permanently tied to us.  And all the ways that my mother talks about it with my kids just remind me of the worst things she ever said to me growing up.  Just, thoughtlessly mean sometimes, calling moves they made "stupid" and things like that.  She doesn't mean anything by it and it seems to mostly roll off the kids.  It's getting to me more than them.

 

Argh.  This is basically just a JAWM.  I have nowhere else to vent at the moment since we're on vacation with my mother.  Sigh.

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Do you think she is really into it or maybe just pretending to be that into it for your kids? I mean, I listened to my mom talk to DS for hours about Magic the Gathering and Pokemon and I thought wow! How bizarre! She seems to really get all this, but in reality she was just playing along because she knew he was really into it. So maybe it is the same.... (fingers crossed)?

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Oh no.  She's aggressively into it.  Ds who is no longer into it was trying to get her to stop talking about it with his brother and she really shut him down.  Afterward he was like, "See, we have to make her stop playing!"

 

I get that it's fun.  I just...  oy.  It's not my kind of game.

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Yep, Clash of Clans has taken over our house.  Let's see at last count I have six kids playing it on six different devices, their aunt (my sil) and my dh.  In his defense, I did encourage my dh to participate because the boys needed some supervision and I wanted them all in a clan together and they are excited to be in a clan with Dad.  I really don't mind the conversations at breakfast and sometimes after dinner.  What really bugs me is the times when they "just have to check their game" for a few minutes when we're doing something else.  Ummm . . . no!  The younger boys are limited to 30 minutes a day but I can't really limit the adults . . . sometimes I wish I could!

 

It's really not all bad.  The aunt is a missionary overseas so I'm guessing this will be a way for the kids to stay more connected with her when she's gone for long periods of time - at least that's what I'm hoping.

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:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

My 15yo gamer son's comment:  "That's like INTENSELY tactical . . . what the heck?!"

 

It's nice that she found something to bond with your boys. Maybe she can move on to something else (if they'll let her). And I totally get the conversations making you want to scream, I really, really do. I'm sorry. I hope it's a quick week . . .

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Oh, I get it. Two or three of DH's co-workers will come over for coffee, we'll be having a nice conversation, and BAM somebody gets invaded or something and then they all pick up their phones simultaneously. Grrrrrr. Did anybody else see the news article that said women play more online games than men? Ha!

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Yep, Clash of Clans has taken over our house. Let's see at last count I have six kids playing it on six different devices, their aunt (my sil) and my dh. In his defense, I did encourage my dh to participate because the boys needed some supervision and I wanted them all in a clan together and they are excited to be in a clan with Dad. I really don't mind the conversations at breakfast and sometimes after dinner. What really bugs me is the times when they "just have to check their game" for a few minutes when we're doing something else. Ummm . . . no! The younger boys are limited to 30 minutes a day but I can't really limit the adults . . . sometimes I wish I could!

 

It's really not all bad. The aunt is a missionary overseas so I'm guessing this will be a way for the kids to stay more connected with her when she's gone for long periods of time - at least that's what I'm hoping.

Yeah. They've gotten some far flung relatives to play too. And it has my mom and the boys talking a bunch, which is cool. I think I'll just be glad when she's not here so it becomes something that happens for a few minutes during their screen time, not off and on all day out of my control.

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You are hearing things that you heard as a kid and they were hurtful. It triggers a lot of bad memories and the accompanying emotions. This too shall end. It's a vacation, right?

Yeah. I overstated that a little. I mean, yes, but it's not like my mom and I have a poor relationship. She was always a loving mom... It's just there are always mom things that grate, you know or remind you of the less than ideal things. None of us are perfect parents. Alas.

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Yeah, I also like the simple video games. I like puzzle games basically. And I like games in general. I mean, I don't have anything against it per se - it's cool that it's so strategic. I just hate how demanding it is. When I sit down to play, I want to play. Then, I want it to end. This thing is never ending. Also, I feel like if I tried to talk about Ticket to Ride strategy or if the boys started talking about Pathfinder for hours, my mom would shut that down pretty fast.

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My favorite video game to play with the kids is Wii Party. That probably doesn't count since it's basically a board game. In fact, we'll play Labyrinth and Small World and other board games together on ipad. It's time limited and doesn't take over our lives!

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I'm going to chime back in and say that my mine on the PS3 is awesome. Really, it's a thing of beauty. And nobody messes with my mine or my farm. In a way, it parallels life.... Sure you've got a great castle, DH. Yes boys, a beautiful road, and good job on getting the creepers! But where do they get that cobblestone? The diamonds for the armour? The coal for their torches? The wheat for their bread? Yep, you got it!

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Just venting again.  Feel free to ignore me.  We may not be with my mom anymore, but it still weasels its way in with the millions of texts she sends me to relay to them.

 

I now have a philosophy of video games.  This is it...

 

Video games can be good and educational and a good way to bond.  But video games should be available when you want them, not when they want you.

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