Why the disconnect? Why understanding your kids' games is crucial for so many reasons

When your sweet boy or girl hits 16 years old, or 13, or 10, or 7, or maybe even 5, they might start playing games that you don't fully understand. They'll talk about "PvP" and "Lag time" and you will probably wonder what's what. Being out of sync with your kids' games is one thing -- being clueless to the point of disconnection is another.

You may hear words like "torrenting" and think, "Oh crumb, I've heard that word in news stories about people downloading stuff they shouldn't download... Uh no, what now?" If you're like me (and probably most parents) you'll probably ignore it because honestly you simply don't have time to ramp up on all the knowledge that's needed to keep up to speed with your kids' games. But in the back of your mind you'll have the nagging worry, "I'm pretty sure torrenting is illegal but... what is it?"

So, you don't have time, but it's still a Can't Miss bit of knowledge you need to have tucked under your belt. When you first sent your kid to school,  you looked into the school until you're sure it's the right place for your kid.

Cathy and Jake

When your kids spends hours with his games, talking about games with friends, you look into the games until... it becomes incomprehensible babble.

Why do you have to push past this babble barrier despite lack of time / lack of knowledge?

1. Because bad things can happen if you don't know what your kids are up to. Ex: a few months ago we received a letter from our internet service company saying, "We will take away your cable service and never give you online access ever again since you torrented... babble... babble... Don't do it again or threat... threat.. threat." Ack. One of our kids torrented something? What the heck is torrenting? See an upcoming post for info on that.

2. Because games can become a big part of their lives and when you don't attempt to understand what their lives are like, it's far too easy to slide down the slippery slope of "You don't understand me!" because in fact, you don't.

3. Most games are actually good for a person's brain. You don't need to pay Luminosity to exercise your mind when there are plenty of games your kids actually want to play that are more socially fun for your kids and their friends. More in upcoming posts on the games that pack the biggest good-for-brain punch.

I take long walks with my son, Jake, who will walk very long distances if he can talk about his games while doing it. He is a superb teacher. I started this blog one day when Jake said, "Mom, this is going out your other ear, isn't it."

So, I'm recording what he's said, fact checking as best I can before posting. I hope this is of use to other Moms and Dads out there trying to understand their kids' games.