Ben and the ceiling fans

Ben loves ceiling fans.  He may not be a big fan of toys, video games, or Legos (like he used to be), but he sure loves his ceiling fans and his utilities.

If Ben earns five stars on any one thing or for every five stars he earns on everything he's supposed to do, I let him pull the chain to turn on and off the fan and the lights of our three ceiling fans.

I provide him a blue bucket to stand on and I help hold him up to where he can pull the chains safely in our three rooms that provide us light and cooler air.

I let him do his truck in the living room, our bedroom, and their bedroom.  I give him extra time and extra pulls for him to be happy.  I'll do anything in my power to keep him happy.

At the same time, I have to be the parent that sets reasonable limits for him.  After the third sets of pulls on each of the ceiling fans, I tell him that it's time to stop.  Once I tell him to stop, he gets mad.  I don't mean to make him mad, but I can't just let him pull chains all day. 

It's not good for the equipment, and it's especially not good for him either.  It takes about an hour to calm him down and keep him away from the buckets that could prop him up to reach the ceiling fan.

I even have to spend some extra time to get him to stop pulling the couch cushions to prop him up toward the ceiling fans.

Yesterday, I had to lock the door to our bedroom to prevent him from messing with our ceiling fan.  I even had to send him to his room because he wouldn't listen to us. 

One wish I have is that he will take some interest in our family activities and that he'll play with his toys with us.  I want to be able to play with Ben more.

At least Ben likes to color and practice writing his name over and over again.  He's getting better in writing B E N in the correct order.

Finally, my big wish is that Ben can harness is love and energy for ceiling fans, lights, fans, and light switches in a positive manner.

Video Gamer in Chief

BACK TO THE FUTURE THE GAME

My three-year-old son Blake is becoming an expert in video game play.  

Last Night, he saw me play Back to the Future on the XBOX360.  

Blake wanted to start playing the game immediately.  He's never seen me play this game before.  Never mind that he's never played a video game as complex as this one before.  He wanted to play and let me know it.

Being the good daddy that I am, I give him the XBOX controller and let him play.  I didn't tell him what buttons to push or what moves to make.  I let him watch the story in the game and he just hit whatever buttons and levers he could find. 

The only thing that could derail this plan is dinner time.  After the two minute alarm went off, we all sat down for dinner.

We will play that game again someday.



PAC-MAN CONNECT AND PLAY

Blake has become an expert on Dig Dug, Super Pac Man, Pac and Pal, and Mappy (Mouseky has he calls it) on this little device.

 
One day, I come home and Blake sees me right away.  Instead of him saying 'hi daddy, I love you (or i missed you)', he says "I want to play video games."

I take my shoes off and put my back pack away before I plug the games into the TV. 

He's most improved in Super Pac-Man has he has gotten to the bonus Donut level and as far as the Burger level.

Blake is going to get better at this before too long.  

I felt bad for Blake that I would let him play as I was on the best roll of my life on this game.  I got to near 180,000 into level 18.  Basically I was playing the banana level again at 160 points a Banana.

I'm doing way better as a parent by not playing as much as he does.  

Blake doesn't know it yet, but he's getting a special video game present on Christmas.