The Day We Ruined Our Kids

I think it was 1976. Our two youngest kids were in a double stroller, and we had brought an umbrella stroller along just in case our older one got tired. It was a Sunday afternoon and we thought we'd do some quick holiday shopping and then go home to eat dinner.

We were on our way to the car, walking through Sears in Sioux City, which is now the location of the city's only skyscraper (actually only a cloud scraper), and spotted two TV sets that had joy sticks wired to them. Jay and I each picked up a joystick, wondering how this would work. It was exciting! It was challenging! It was really fun! Our oldest child whined at us and we unfolded the umbrella stroller. The two babies fussed and I dug out bottles for them. We took advantage of their quiet and continued to play.

Finally our oldest nearly screamed, "I want to go home!!!!" Both Jay and I looked around and there was no one in the store. We noticed that most of the lights were out, and we headed for the main door. It was locked. We nearly ran to a side door and came upon a security guard. He kindly led us to the back door which he unlocked so we could proceed to our car.

Neither of us had noticed the shoppers leaving, the doors closing, Santa leaving his chair, or the announcements that must have been made. We had fallen deeply into the coma induced by one of the first video games. Our children are now adults with children of their own, and they cannot resist a computer game. They have given them to their own children. We have noticed, perhaps because of our parental failing, that they time how long their own kids can play, and closely monitor the games that they play. But, after the kids are in bed, we suspect that they are drawn into that deep dark world that drew their parents in and created an example that influences their own lives. Then again - they probably don't remember at all!