Henry's Birthday

Henry turned four today. I'd been coaching him for a week now and was gratified this morning when after I asked him how old he was, he was able to respond correctly. Now if I could just get him to hold a crayon for more that two seconds I'd have him writing his name in no time.

There was a Valentine's Day play group at church this morning. Henry ate two frosting crusted cookies studded with various candies and sprinkles. Being the pig that I am, I was unable to resist eating one myself. Then when we got home, I confiscated the cookies and candy from his Valentines bag, knowing he'd eat them all given half a chance. I made his birthday cake and of course he had to sample the cake batter, and yes, I did, too. Then I had to ice the cake and Henry had a lick or two, and yet again, I indulged myself. After the momentous candle extinguishing ceremony we all had some cake. Now Henry's playing video games and I'm sitting here trying to think about not barfing.

Certain video games, for some reason, nauseate me. I like the picture to be as steady as possible. I used to play a lot of video games back in high school and was astonished one day when playing Wolfenstine made me sick as a dog. If it's in first person perspective it only take a minute or so before I have to walk away. I can't even watch home movies for more than five minutes at a stretch or I'll be so sick... Ugh. Henry got three games for his birthday. Two "Monkey Ball" games and "Lego Star Wars." Of course he had to play them as soon as he ripped off the wrapping paper. And I had to watch/participate. It's not so bad, the first twenty minutes or so, but then there's a fast paced racing part whereupon my brain and stomach immediately conspired against me and I had to hand the controller over to Ben and extricate myself from the room. It doesn't help that I've already hit my sugar saturation point. Even hearing the stupid video game music makes me want to hurl.

Ben says this weakness is one of my few flaws. I see it as a simple solution to what would otherwise be a lifetime of playing first person perspective shooting games with him.