Video games--Mario

I have to say right up front that I am not a video game/computer game fan. I can't play them longer than about 5 minutes before I am a)bored, b)frustrated, or c)sick and have a head ache. Honestly, I think there must be something wrong with my brain, but they send me into meltdown. Anyway, this is definitely not an interest John and I share.

That said however, I can't believe how kids are mesmerized by video games. We have an old Nintendo 64 that John occasionally pulls out and plays. Yesterday, I had a really bad headache and I just wanted to be left alone. I layed down on the couch and was just trying to block out all things like noise and light so that my head would stop pounding. So John, in an effort to distract the kids and let me rest turned on the video game Mario. Now he was the only one playing but from the kids' reactions you would have thought Mario was a live person and they were all cheering him along. Kate, Mary, Emma and Ruth all sat around John and cheered Mario on. "Go Mario!" "Run faster!" "Get Bowser by the tail!" etc. Now although the noise level wasn't exactly conducive to getting rid of the headache, I could tell the girls were having fun. They contentedly played along with John for at least an hour, never tiring of Mario's different adventures. I'm glad they can do something fun with their dad that I don't have to do too. When Kate used to ask me, "Mom will you play Mario with me?" I would just say, "No, I don't really do that. Why don't you talk to your dad."