Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Animal Crossing

Jason already knows this, so Jason, you can stop reading now if you want.  Except I bet you won't, because you'll want to know what you already know.  Man is a curious beast.  

Lennon decided she wanted to figure out how a Nintendo Wii works, and ultimately destroyed an entire town of innocents.  

I'm speaking, of course, of Animal Crossing: The City.  She started up the game when I was taking a nap or reading or something, and when the cat asked her if she wanted to build a new town, she said yes.  And when the cat told her that it would destroy everything her mother had built up, caught, earned, beautified, put her heart and soul into, Lennon still said yes.  I fully understand that Lennon can't read well, and therefore had no clue she was doing anything other than making the funny cat talk, but the betrayal still cut like a knife. 

The worst part is the way that I reacted.  Calling myself a baby would be too nice.  Calling myself a selfish, uncaring, c-word-faced b-word with a heart of wet coal, also too nice.  I seriously pouted, you guys.  I POUTED because my little girl wanted to play a game like mommy, and accidentally FAKE demolished the FAKE town of FAKE animals.  To be fair to myself, I could say I was PMSing, but I don't really deserve even that much.  

I think it's funny that I reacted this way.  It's out of character for me.  Lennon once drew cave drawings on my white couch in something VERY permanent, and I swear up and down, all I did was laugh.  It's still there, and I still laugh.  I also wasn't the least bit worried about it when she painted the legs of our table, or when she scratched the TV screen with who knows what.  And it really doesn't bother me when she breaks or loses something.  Kids do that sort of thing.  She gets told not to do it again, and then we move on with life.  

So the fact that I cared about a video game (I almost called it a "stupid video game" but it's really not stupid at all, it's SO FUN, oh my gosh, I can't even begin to tell you...) is disconcerting.  I'm already over it, but the fact that I cared enough to go to bed early that night bugs me.  

Please tell me I'm not a monster of a mother, and that you've done something like this before too.  Please.  

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Brooklyn just wrote on my brand new sheets with a bright orange marker. And I never have time to Wii Fit because it can't interfere with MM Clubhouse. I think one of my least motherly moments was when I actually thought that she purposely woke me up from a nap. That made me irate in a way I have never felt before. I think it was just a bad moment. Plus do you ever get the "Can I have anything that is just mine?" moment? I am sure that is what you were suffering from.

Anonymous said...

Spank! Spank! Spank! (Come on everyone, join in...)

Jason Centers said...

You should demolish something of hers . . . like her childhood.

Maybe something less cruel. But only if you can think of the alternative in three seconds or less. If not, it's goodbye, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny all in an afternoon.

Anonymous said...

I know of a game called Animal Crossing: City Folk, but not an Animal Crossing: The City.

Perhaps you bought it where you bought "Magic: The Get Together".

Luann said...

When this has happened to me on a number of occasions , I wonder how someone as immature as myself could be responsible for three children. I guess I hope that they will remember me for the fun times, and not the crazy mommy times.

diane said...

Eh, I say embrace the selfish b- in your heart. You wouldn't be the first horrible mother out there - the world is full of us.

Cassandra said...

I haven't had the joy of crying my eyes out over a destroyed knitting project (hey, I don't have anything cool out here), but I'm sure it will happen.

AS for the shiny hair, I don't think it had been washed for two days. I don't recommend that route.