How New Technology Brought Back Good Old Family Fun

One thing I have missed and wondered how to recreate for my kids was the time spent hanging out at the house with family and friends. We would play Scrabble (actually on a board with wooden letters you had to pick up), kick the can, or just sit around and watch family TV together - Get Smart was a favorite! Our choices were more limited than they are today and we seemed to be more satisfied with less input than my kids see as the norm. As the mother of 2 teenage girls and a 7 year old boy, it's not easy to find things all of us enjoy doing together. We tried family game night but had trouble agreeing on games we all wanted to play. We did family movie night but, sadly, the selection of good family films is limited out there. As much as I hated for it to happen, each kid was off doing something with friends every weekend instead of spending any time together.

Even more discouraging, my kids and their friends didn't even want to stick around the house. It was way too boring. Sure, the younger one was a little easier - a friend with a ball in the backyard, a deck of cards or board games to play. The teenagers though, when they would submit to staying at home with friends, would be locked in a bedroom with a computer and their phones. Honestly, I'm not even sure why they needed to be with friends to do the things they appeared to want to do.

Then, the video games began to arrive.

Until recently, the extent of our home video games consisted of 5 or 6 cartridges given to us with a Nintendo 64 system. I never saw any real value to video games and, honestly, I totally suck at them. I have little patience for them and they leave me feeling completely frustrated and incompetent so I never even considered buying any new gaming technology. However, our house has recently been bombarded blessed with a plethora of video games (thanks Nintendo and Microsoft). My son has been thrilled, my girls amused, my husband frustrated and amused, and me, well, it's been an interesting learning experience. I never imagined virtual worlds could take me back to the real world days of hanging out at home but read on, perhaps you'll see what I'm talking about.

First came the Wii. Wii were all totallii excited to try out Wii Sport but then it happened... I understand that Wii is trying to be interactive and show us progress, yada, yada, yada; however, all the time it took to set Mii up drove mii battii!!! I told you I don't have the patience for this stuff. My kids stepped in. They whipped mii through the set up and had us playing in no time. And, being kids, they quicklii figured out how to skip the boring stuff and get right to the good stuff. Wii sport and Wii fit reallii do get us all up, moving and laughing. They are no replacement for a good run in the backyard but they are great on a dark fall evening when extra energy needs to burn and outside is not an option. My son thought the new activities he could earn were "totally cool" and took real pride in showing off his progress. Wii Sport also makes grandpa look like a pretty good golfer and gives him the opportunity to give his grandson a few pointers. My personal favorite, though, Wii Music, requires absolutely no ability to either dodge or hit balls. It's a game I can actuallii play to show off my skills!

Next, XBox 360 arrived. First, frustration. The instructions assume you know what the hell you are doing already. If that were the case, I wouldn't need instructions. It took 20 minutes of screwing around, getting upset and almost giving up before I realized you need to hold down the instrument sync button and the XBox control button AT THE SAME TIME in order to get Rock Band 2 started. Now that we are up and rocking, the kids and I have regular afternoon jam sessions - yes, I need to stick to vocals! Although watching me drum is quite hilarious.

I still sometimes dream of simpler days and nights for my kids to experience but I also have come to accept that "the times they are a changin'," and it's not necessarily a bad thing. These crazy video games I have dreaded so much in the past have actually provided a new way for all of us to spend time doing things TOGETHER! My husband and son are Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda buddies. The kids are spending time in our house with their friends and each other in a room without a door! And whenever the family needs a really good belly laugh, they just hook up anything requiring coordination and hand me a controller. Our house is filled with the laughter of friends, family and neighbors, and that's what I really missed most of all.

Wee Wii Wee

As many of you know, Devra and I met at JCC Ranch camp when we were still in single digit ages. A fond memory of those camp years is talent show night. Every year a few favorite cabin acts would return. As I tell my kids when they ask me why - I can tell you in one word, "Tradition." Feel free to break into song with Tevya here. Anyway, a show stopper every year was the infamous, "I gotta go wee" act. All the campers and counselor would lie down on the ground, ready to go to sleep. The one on the end would whisper to the girl next to her, "I gotta go wee." It would get passed up the line to the counselor who would say, "Tell her to wait, we're all sleeping now and I don't want to get up." This would pass back to the girl who would repeat her request with a bit more agitation only to land a similar response (wash, rinse, repeat - you get it right?). Finally, exasperated, the counselor would send back, "Fine, go wee already." The girl would jump up and dance across the other campers while singing out, "wee, wee, wee." Totally expected but we all laughed every year. Why? You don't really want me to sing again do you?

What the heck does this have to do with anything? Nothing really. Except for the fact that every time I hear someone mention the Wii, I think of that ridiculous skit. Now you can all suffer that memory right along with me...

So, the kind folks at Nintendo have decided to help me keep off the 15 pounds I just lost in preparation for my last show by gracing my home with Wii Fit. Of course, things being what they are, I was the last family member given the opportunity to sign on and give it a try. OK, so maybe I got to try it before anyone else at a Nintendo hosted dinner a little while ago. You see, I am not athletic in the sports sense. I can probably sing and dance circles around a lot of you but don't ever, ever throw a ball at me. I will duck, yell, and look foolish, as well as frightened. Suffice it to say, I am just as lousy at electronic sports as I am at actual ones so things like Wii had no real appeal for me. Until...Wii Fit. I can proudly say I rule the house at aerobics and yoga! My balance and strength aren't too bad either. Just don't make me head those stupid soccer balls! I admit it, I'm hooked on parts of it - the parts I am good at.

As for the rest of the family. I caught my husband doing Yoga when he thought he was alone in the house. My girls are simply having fun with all of it and my son is learning patience and practice are just as important as the activity itself. I'll admit, I was frustrated with the amount of time it takes to set each person up to get started. However, once all the data was entered and we, "Let the games begin," I realized the reasoning behind it all. Wii isn't just about playing games. It really is about challenging yourself (and others if you wish) to improve your skills along with your health in a very relaxed environment - your own home! Yes, it is a bit intimidating to hear the initial stats about your BMI but encouraging to know that playing these games can make a difference. The system even lets you set goals and track your progress. How cool is that?

I will keep on Wii-ing if it means I can work out whenever I have a few spare minutes instead of dragging my ass out of bed at 5:15 in the morning to go to the gym. My son will do it to master each event, my girls will do it for the fun and may even admit to the great shape it helps them to stay in, my husband will do it (let's be honest here) to make sure he keeps his #1 ranking in each category. And, when the entire family gets together to Wii, we all have a great time encouraging each other and laughing hysterically any time I try to actually participate in anything with a ball, bat, glove, etc...

Thanks Nintendo, for giving us our very own indoor video workout with a purpose!

Johnson and Johnson, GM, and Nintendo, Oh My!

The weather was, well... dark when I headed out to DIA at 3:00 in the morning on April 2nd. I was off to New Brunswick, NJ to be a part of Johnson & Johnson's Camp Baby! Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was the folks at J&J were hosting an all expense paid trip to hear about their programs and products in exhange for some viral marketing and consumer feedback via the mommy bloggers of the blogoshpere. In addition, Devra and I had been invited to join them as influential parenting experts in their networking family. Sounded fair enough and, besides, it meant three days of leaving my clothes on the floor, not cooking or cleaning anything, hanging out with a some old friends and meeting a few new ones.

Upon my arrival in Newark, I was greeted at the airport by a lovely gal named Ava (her name is almost as cool as mine). She brought a group of us to our driver who whisked (OK, not really whisked but got us there) us off to the lovely Heldrich Hotel in the Chevy Malibu (I'm pretty sure) provided by GM.

OK, I will do my best to NOT have the rest of this read like a bad commercial.

The first night was an incredible evening of fun with Ted Allen. I'll be honest with ya' - before this, I wouldn't have known this guy if I plowed him down in the lobby on the way to the food. By the end of an evening of wine tasting with him though, we were gabbing away. I mean, any guy who starts a wine tasting by telling us we can't eat the little plates of food we have at our spots yet because they're like your plates at the Passover table, I am definitely going to have a good time partying with.

The next day was filled with informative talks from various people involved with J&J. My personal favorite was learning about InfantSee with Dr. Scott Jens. This is a program supported by J&J which provides a free eye exam for all infants. Since my brother struggled horribly in school until they realized he was near sighted in one eye and far sighted in the other and simply couldn't see what was going on in the world, I think this opportunity is something all parents should take advantage of! As a matter of fact, I have already made arrangements with Dr. Jens to get information about InfantSee into my community. I also loved hearing Bridgette Heller tell us about the many things J&J Baby Care division is involved with and how they strive to implement good health all around the world. One funny thing - about 30 minutes after Dr. Charles Gerba spoke with us about germs, you couldn't find a drop of hot water in the hotel. I think we used it all up frantically trying to remove germs we had gathered from any fomites in the room.

That night we had a fabulous dinner at The Frog and the Peach sponsored by none other than Nintendo - because nothing says fine dining like video games right? We arrived to drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and, of course, Wii. Now, being a Wii virgin, I was quite excited and a bit nervous. The folks from Nintendo were very kind though. They taught me to scuba dive and bowl without laughing at me and we even got to check out a new step game that isn't available to the public yet! Once we worked up our appetites, it was time to eat. The dinner roles were amazing (remember, I live in Colorado) and I joked with the restaurant manager about needing to bring some home. Wouldn't you know it, not 10 minutes later the waitress showed up at my table with a couple of boxes of rolls for me! Now that's service. After dinner, we went back to the hotel (courtesy of GM, of course) and gathered for a virtual camp fire evening.

The next morning we packed up (how sad) and headed to the lobby for a field trip to the J&J campus. The administrative building was quite beautiful and the campus has an on site day care facility as well. While there, we learned some J&J history and gave them some tips for heading into the future.

Then it was time to go home. The J&J folks loaded us up with plenty of goodies to take home and even had sack lunches for us to bring to the airport. They thought of everything!

Overall, I must say it was a wonderful trip and now, more than ever, I believe J&J lives up to its credo and truly is a company full of "good citizens [who] support good works and charities."

Thank you Johnson & Johnson, GM and Nintendo for a wonderful 3 days and for everything you do!