Wii Like to Play

I never really liked video games as a kid. My sister had an original Nintendo and she and my dad played Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong for hours on it. I on the other hand preferred our Calicovision that had more creative games like Smurfs and Cabbage Patch Kids. As you can see, I really wasn't the gamer type. And if you've ever seen me attempt to do anything that requires hand/eye coordination, you'll know why.

So, I think Kev was more than shocked when I started talking about getting a Wii. And after playing my sister's Wii for three hours straight on two consecutive nights two weeks ago (see pic, even my 65 yo mother became addicted), I went into nagging mode. Kev is a true child of the 1980s. An arcade junkie. A Joust, PacMan, Frogger, Donkey Kong freak. He and his buddies had some sort of Sega and played football or hockey or something until the wee hours of the morning during grad school. I thought he'd be excited to have a game system in the house again. Not so much. Wiis are for girls and kids in his mind.

But despite his reservations, we celebrated our country's freedom by supporting our economy and purchasing a Wii. What followed were hours of challenging each other to multiple games of bowling, baseball and tennis to see who would do laundry, dishes, etc. Wii had way too much fun and I have lots of housework to do.

The dogs are playing their own games. Roxy has never really played with toys. Even after being here for six months, she still isn't really all that interested in stuffies or balls. That is, until Amberly came to stay. The brunettes take turns slinging the stuffies around inside, moving them from one bed to the other. Seka lets them play, but if she feels it gets out of hand, she goes over and puts a stop to all the ruckus. It's funny to me to see her as the alpha, when she was so cautious and scared three years ago.



Outside, Roxy and Amberly race to see who can get the stuffy first. The funny thing is, Roxy can lap Amberly easily, but that isn't really fun. Roxy matches Amberly's gait in the race to retrieve. Sometimes they both come up with the toy for a tug of war. Other times it really isn't about the toy at all and it's more about the running around. It really is fun to watch them interact.

I've realized that Roxy is a good greyhound friend. She lets Amberly win equally and makes her feel good about their play. She doesn't make her do all the housework even if she can beat her at every game.

That's okay. Seka and I are a lot a like. We both like to beat the competition unexpectedly and then rub it in.