Dinner out

Monday through Thursday we've gained control over screen time - Ben and Sam are not allowed to play violent games and they only get to play or watch for an hour. Amazingly, they're not really fighting us about it. I'm so relieved and I feel like a better parent.

The weekends are a different story. They're rougher. We have more free time and the boys are allowed to play the shooting games they love. They’re not nice shooting games like Mario and Sonic where they blast mushrooms at flowers. They’re awful Rated M games. My kids bounce up and down with glee as the enemies they murder gush blood and moan gruesomely. 

How do I let my kids play these? I know I need to take some of the responsibility because I allow them to play but mostly I lovingly point the finger at Tom. He plays a lot of video games. Not as much as your average teenager. But definitely more than a lot of grown ups. They’re his release from the stress of the real world. I totally get it. But sadly FIFA and Madden aren't the only ones he likes and he's passed his affinity for gun games on to our boys.  Red Dead Redemption, Halo and Call of Duty to name a few. 

Ironically,  I'm the parent that let the worst one sneak by. In preparation for the weekend, Sam asked me to download some new apps onto his iPod touch. Yup, I said. What do you want? He had no idea so we browsed through what was new and hot. We added some nice-ish games (Heroes and Monsters, Run Roo Run and the Are You a Moron? quiz which is actually semi-educational). Then he saw Grand Theft Auto 3 and asked for it. Without even hesitating, I put it on.

While away for the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge, we met our closest friends for dinner. As tradition goes when out to dinner with these friends, we let the boys play video games while we wait for the food to arrive. It allows us some kid free time to drink and enjoy the meal.  We went to Barley Creek Brewery in Tannersville, PA. For some crazy reason, we've been there 4-5 times over the past couple of years. We keep winding up in the area and have become semi-regulars.  But we've never been during the winter and are overwhelmed by the ski crowd. A 45 minute wait. Holy smokes. We were starving but anything was better than the garbage served at Great Wolf so we camp out at the bar. The boys had their games. We had a round of drinks. All was good.  Let's order some appetizers. I browsed over the menu on a quest for dairy free snacks to hold us over. Can't do the nachos. No pretzel bites. The artichoke dip won't work. They would never eat the melted Brie - even if it was allowed. So that leaves wings. I ordered 20. They were devoured in minutes. I love when my kids eat.

Finally we were seated for dinner. Finding a meal for Sam is easy. He chooses the ribs and apple juice. He couldn't have been happier. Food he liked and his games. Bliss. And then Tom asked him what he was playing. Grand Theft Auto, he whispered. Huh? Sam repeats it and Tom asked how he got it. Mom got it for me. He's not allowed to play that one. Really? I had no idea. Is it more violent than the others? Uh, yeah (as if I'm the only dummy who didn't know that it should be off limits). Yikes, I had no clue. Tom handed me the iPod so I could hear first hand about the mission that Sam is on. The game started up and the announcer said:

"Apparently there's a new high in town. It's called crank. This pusher's been giving it to all his girls and they want you to go and introduce a bat to his face, steal his car and get it repainted. I need some compensation for this transgression."

Nice. At least he might learn a new vocabulary word or two.