• Fun On The Spot - Games

    Rob Mathewson is the Big Picture Guy for On The Spot Games. Read his musings on games and the game industry.

    Saturday, July 29, 2006

    A lesson for the kids from the Tour de France.
    Well, chalk this one up to one of those instances when the morning news offers up a lesson in ethics and acceptable behavior. This morning at breakfast, news of Floyd Landis' recent positive drug test cracked over the radio prompting a pretty heady conversation between my kids and I. - A little background, for 3 weeks in July my productivity at home and at work goes to its lowest point all year as Le Tour becomes the center of my attention (curse you OLN.) It's been a favorite of mine since Greg Lemond's epic win in 1989 and never fails to entertain.

    It's always refreshing to listen to the questions that my eight-year-olds ask when the discussion turns to issues of right and wrong. When such opportunities arise, I make it a point to stop what I'm doing and keep the discussion going until every last question is asked and answered. (After all, I'm guessing that I have a few years of open exchanges left before I'll need to adopt a more stealth approach for the pubescent years. ) In this case we discussed the details of the allegations against Floyd and the consequences for him if they are proven to be true. The ethics lesson then morphed in a science discussion about performance enahncing drugs and how they work.

    Earlier in the week, it was another discussion concerning cycling that revealed that our mini-lessons actually are taking root. In this case, I was a fly on the wall as my sons TJ & Jason were telling their friend Marcus about the movie Breaking Away. To my surprise, rather than telling their friend about the cool bike race and how the underdog cutters went on to win the race, they instead talked about the subplot where the lead character poses as an Italian exchange student in order to woo a girl. They talked about how he was really lying to her and that he paid the price when she found out. Wow, that was pretty cool. Whady'a know? They're listening!

    Sunday, July 23, 2006

    It's ninety plus here in Seattle today with a cloudless sky and the Mariners pulled out a victory against the Red Sox in the bottom of the 9th. Yes, you couldn't have a more picture perfect summer day. But what have I been thinking about? Whether or not my kids will be ready for school in September. While my wife and I have planned a very active summer for our two boys (twins, age 8), I'm quite concerned that they will be ready for the changes that await them as they move into third grade.

    Come September, most teachers will spend their first month of class time waking the minds of their students who have mostly put their "thinking caps" away for the last two months. My kids will begin learning to write in cursive next school year, which I expect to be quite a challenge for them since they haven't yet mastered printing. I didn't want them to park their pencils in their desk drawers for the summer, but still wanted them to enjoy themselves so that they were recharged and ready to go in the fall.

    The answer? Ah yes, games and puzzles of course. My wife and I casually set aside 5 or 10 minutes after dinner to play games with our kids. Doing so gives us quality time with the boys while keeping their minds sharp. My wife, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, invites the boys to join her in completing the puzzle each day. I also keep some Kotsuku cards
    handy, both of which work well to develop those fine motor skills and expand their vocabularies. Other favorites are chess and sudoku for keeping their math skills sharp. The most important factor to consider when choosing a game to play is consider the academic strengths and weaknesses of your student. Something as simple as creating trivia questions from the newspaper can get the intellectual juices flowing (this works particularly well when you give your kids a chance to quiz you.)

    Monday, July 17, 2006

    I was out on a bike ride the other day and took a break from my endorphine rush to notice that the McMansion phenomenon is in full bloom here in Seattle. I certainly sympathize with those who find themselves in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation when it comes to finding more house for their families in a real estate market that hasn't been buyer friendly for years. But I couldn't help wondering what else was behind this interest in building out to the property line.

    Just by chance, I heard an NPR Story on that very topic later in the week. A homeowner interviewed for the segmented share his reasons for wanting to build a house where each member of his family could be screaming and he wouldn't hear them (a curious scenario.)

    There were many explanations given in the story for the McMansion trend, both economic and social. But all I could think about was the long term effects on the relationships between the families who live in these houses. It's not enough that we've become detached from our families through technology (cell phones, Internet, IM, XBox, IPod, etc.), but now we're physically separating ourselves from the rest of the family too.

    If you grew up in a house where you had to share a bathroom or even a bedroom with a sibling (once a very common occurrence, my wife shared a bedroom with here brother until moving out a few years after college) you probably had plenty of gripes over fighting for your own space. However, despite the obvious complaints, your daily interactions with the rest of the family resulted in quite a repertoire of shared experiences and incidental contact (sounds like the NFL) that contributed to the relationships you built with each member of your family.

    My brother and I couldn't stand each other as kids and would fight all the time (one of our epic clashes included a lawn mower chase.) Even though we each had our own rooms, it seemed as if we were always tripping over one another. It wasn't until after I left for college that we realized that we could enjoy spending time together. Today we're best friends.

    Now, I'm not going to use this opportunity to launch NoMcMansions.org, but I would suggest to someone who has chosen the big house lifestyle to consider the importance of herding the family together into one room for 30 minutes or so each day to connect with one another. "No Timmy, you cannot play with your PSP and Jenny PUT DOWN THAT CELL PHONE!"

    The setting for such time could be dinner at home (sharing ONE meal, not several individual meals cooked separately in the microwave, OK that's for another post) or at a restaurant. Other possible "Connection Activities" could include playing board games, playing cards or any other activity that involves eye contact and , gulp, conversation. You know what's right for your brood. Above all, make it a ritual, not a special occasion. If you commit to it with the expectation that others in the family do the same, then it will succeed. Afterwards, then can adjourn to their third-floor bedrooms in the south wing.