momoftheyear

 There is a game on Roblox that literally just about everyone is playing. My children are no exception. It's called "Grow A Garden" and that's what you do--plant seeds, harvest, sell the harvest and buy more seeds to plant. There are all kinds of fancy things that you can do and add to increase production of your garden and Isaiah knows a lot of those things. 

The last time Isaiah and I had lunch together, we watched a video of Grow A Garden and I told him that I thought I could actually play that game. I didn't follow through right then, but Isaiah didn't forget about my confidence in my abilities. 

Last Monday when it was just Isaiah and I at home for the whole day, he thought that would be the perfect time to get me set up on Roblox. That's what we (he) did. 

First, I needed an account which means I needed a username. We debated using my Pokemon name, but Isaiah declared he had the perfect name. He typed in...momoftheyear76. 76 because that is my birthday. Isaiah was so proud. I mean at that point I was proud! It's pretty great to get Mom of the year just by sitting in front of a computer. 

Isaiah got me set up and in his game and then he continued to coach me along. Here's the thing. The hardest part is walking. I can turn in circles really really well, but getting some forward movement in the right direction took a lot of energy. lol While I'm using all this energy, Isaiah would reach over and fix whatever situation I got myself in. He told me what seeds to buy and decided not to gift me anything because "that would take the fun out of it." And just when I would think that maybe I had had enough for a first try, Isaiah said, "Mom you are doing so good. I'm having SO much fun!" Of course, I kept right on playing.  

As soon as I got up on Saturday, Isaiah was waiting for me. An update was happening on Grow A Garden in 10 minutes and he wanted me to join him. It turned out to be a football themed event and Isaiah was so excited. I now have a "fruitball" plant and a football shaped pet roaming around my garden. (Pets collect seeds for you, I think.) My game ended up crashing because so many people were playing. The event was being hosted by Travis Kelce no less. 

And then this morning I decided I would surprise Isaiah. I sat down beside him and tended my garden. Maybe I'm getting a little better at navigating. Isaiah showed me that I had to climb some trees to harvest fruit at the top, but then I couldn't figure out how to get down. Today Isaiah's comment was "Mom, I can tell that you really don't understand how this game works." Well, it may be true, but I'm showing up. 

The moral of this story is 1. it's priceless to enter your kid's world and 2. I can only try to play games that can be dumbed down to their most basic form. (This one--plant seeds, harvent, sell, buy more seeds. And Pokemon--throw a ball to catch a Pokemon and build your collection.) And 3. if you don't have the ability to actually play games, choose the best username.