Faith. Life. Gaming.
Enjoyed the practical advice from a Love Thy Nerd piece titled “Dear Fortnite Mom”:
I also wanted to suggest a way in which Fortnite might become a tool for growth for your son rather than cause strife in your family. Those parents I was talking about earlier? Lots of them use Fortnite as a motivator. If your son wants money for a Fortnite skin, then perhaps he should be willing to do something to earn it. Maybe you already do this, but I figured I’d share my approach.
It is easy to find oneself lost in routine. Getting up, getting ready, and spending the day at work. Seeing family at lunch and then through the evening. The Texas summer heat serving to bake the daily routine into a stale, dry loaf.
I’m a creature of routine. I thrive in knowing what is going to happen. But I also think I dislike routines. We are all living paradoxes in some way.
Driving down the same streets everyday, I find myself desiring change. I feel stuck in the things I know, the places I’ve seen. So I’ll switch up my routine, drive down a different street, show my brain something new for the day.
Saw an article on twitter the other day, all I read was the headline:
“Are You Taking Your Family For Granted?”
The familiar, the routine, can cause us all to take things for granted, especially our relationships.
Last night, with my son gone at Vacation Bible School (VBS), my wife and I decided to go to dinner. Earlier in the day, she texted me and asked, “Are we going on a date?”
A date…
What had originally just been a meal out without the kid suddenly became something different.
A date!
Dates are exciting. Dates require thinking about what to wear, where to go, and being intentional in conversation. I found myself a bit out of practice (I can be honest here, right?). But I found out what my wife has been reading (she reads a ton). We dreamed. Tab and Wyatt will be studying California history this next semester. So we talked about where we want to visit when we visit California next. Just being with my wife, reconnecting with her on a date, was amazing. Dates always remind me of why I married Tab (like I need that reminder… but sometimes I do).
Breaking a routine means doing something out of the ordinary. A mid-week date for us was the perfect shake-up. I only wish we had ordered the Confetti Pizookie. When you live you might as well go all the way and embrace the calories.
Last night at bed time:
“What did you do while I was gone?” Said the boy with a hint of accusation embraced by curiosity.
“I played with your toys, ate candy, and had fun.”
His face told me that he didn’t buy that answer.
“Let’s see, I reinstalled the light cover on the light above the kitchen sink. I installed new mini blinds in the kitchen window. And I also had to work on the kitchen sink plumbing because suddenly the sink was leaking all over the floor.”
I’m not sure he liked that response. I kind of squashed the illusion of Tab and I being off on some grand adventure while he is away.
Oh well. At least I got a few things done. Amazing what one can do when their child is away at Vacation Bible School.
This past Friday, the Texas Halls took a trip to Norfork, Arkansas to see my brother and his family (the Arkansas Halls).
We had a good time:
I enjoyed getting to catch up with my brother and his family. Was fun to see where they live now and experience a little taste of their new surroundings. We will return… once my brother fixes his go-kart!
I was first introduced to the work of Roald Dahl when a summer school teacher decided to read James and the Giant Peach aloud. This introduction was memorable to me for two reasons:
My summer with Mr. Cook and James and the Giant Peach would eventually come to an end. Over the years, I would bump into Dahl’s work on the occasion, such as when the movie Matilda came out —Matilda was a favorite of my Grandpa Ayers, he would jokingly tell my cousins that he was going to take them to the chokey–.
Wyatt and I discovered Dahl’s The BFG a few years ago. I was surprised by how well the book read as it mixes horror elements with made up words and fart jokes. We also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soon after. Which was a fun book to read as I had only experienced Wonka in film.
This past Fall, Wyatt and I read Fantastic Mr Fox. This book was both a delight and a surprise to come across. Fantastic Mr Fox is about three farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean growing tired of Mr Fox stealing from them. So they wage an all out war/assault on Mr Fox and his house. Mr Fox ends up losing a body part but ultimately strikes back with a masterful plan. The book is told in a straightforward fashion and is hilarious to read aloud due to Dahl’s use of words. Fantastic Mr Fox is so good read aloud that my brother-in-law, who was staying with us at that time, would sit and listen.
Summer has been baking East Texas, so Tab and Wyatt picked up the movie version of the book the other day. Now there are solid movie adaptations of books, such as Steven Speilberg’s The BFG, and there are horrid film versions that just need to die. Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a travesty. The film unsuccessfully mashes Wes Anderson’s typical character template and storytelling tropes with Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. Tabitha, Wyatt, and I kept looking at each other wondering what was going on. Bits and pieces of Fantastic Mr Fox were present in the film but were drowned out by Anderson’s style and artistic story license. We were all very disappointed and thankful we had rented the movie from the library.
I noticed, in the movie, that anytime the animals were going to say a bad word, they’d say the word “cuss” instead. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a great big bowl of cuss. But don’t let that keep you from reading Roald Dahl’s classic with your kids.
Maybe one day a director will do Fantastic Mr Fox justice.
JohnnyBGamer