Basically every morning these days, I wake up and come out to the library to hear the sound of my children happily playing together upstairs. Usually they’re playing a video game together, with a ton of chatter and laughter. They’ve been up for anywhere from half an hour to a couple of hours, and this past summer, they have learned how to play together without bickering in a way that I would’ve thought impossible a year ago.
I can even run out to do errands (leaving Kevin sleeping) and come home hours later to find them basically the same, or I can go hide and work for hours, ditto. They might ask me for food at some point, although they’re also capable of getting their own instant oatmeal and bananas. It’s all incredibly freeing and lovely, and I think video games are somewhat to thank for it, as they give them a shared framework for play they both enjoy. (They like the more open-ended creative ones, like Minecraft and Roblox.)
Anyway, just noting that’s it’s all delightful.