30 days… and counting…
…is what my PS2 has done the weekend just gone, as I have just mentioned on my other blog… and, as also mentioned on my other blog, this time it appears that it is, as they say, for real (as opposed to when it happened a few months ago, and I was able to squeeze a bit more life out of the machine). I’ve just traded some games at Gamestation, in which I now have a total of £35 credit, and I could buy a pre-owned machine with two “free” (ish) games, for as little as £55… and inasmuch as stumping up £20 wouldn’t be that tricky… I feel that I want to resist!
And here is why…
I want to free my head… my mind… make space in my consciousness for my child. Obviously, as a parent, I will need distractions – I will need things in my life that are unrelated to being-a-dad… but… I want to be in control of those things. Mentally in control. At which point in this piece, I think I need to make a bit of a confession… I am far short, I would say, of being addicted to my PS2, but it does have a tendency, sometimes, to take over my mind…
God, that sounds sinister… what I mean to say is, it can sometimes occupy my thought processes perhaps a little more than it should – a little more than is, perhaps, “healthy.” I will, no doubt, replace my PS2 at some point, but for now I have put it and its games away, and I want it to be one of a number of more “mentally proportionate,” fun non-dad-related “distractions”… including reading (being something that is easily pick-up-and-put-down-able – which may, I suspect, be an advantageous quality in the near future!)… watching some of those DVD’s I have been meaning to get around to watching… writing… and… other things I haven’t thought of yet…
When our child arrives in the world, it will take over our lives… at least at first… at least until we settle into a “routine”… and I don’t want any part of me to resent that. As far as possible, when I am immersed (hopefully not literally!) in dirty nappies, sleepless nights and everything else one becomes immersed in as a new parent, I want to eliminate things that I “would rather be doing” – those things are bound to exist, but I want to reduce them to a minimum… without, of course, forgetting who I am other than a dad! Unless, of course, I come to the realisation that “being a dad” is everything that I want to be… 
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May 28, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Free to think, free to believe...
Hmm.
In some ways I want to agree with you and in other ways seek to encourage you to replace your PS2…
I suppose if you waited those 30 days – you’ll then have to wait a few more. Perhaps this is your time window to replace your PS2 but is that right… As I come to almost a quarter of my orrery I do understand the difficulties of these things…
In my wild mind I have but a thought, a merest hint of a suggestion – if you waited to upgrade to a wii – you could actually use that as a game console that your child could grow into and learn motor control… but then the snagging thought – do we really want children to learn for a games console…
I remember when I had my PS once I had begun a game I was lost and I don’t really want to return to that and I sense that you don’t either…
I guess this rambling comment is about as usefull as I think it is – but then you may think it is useful in thinking it all through…
Who am I to Know?
May 28, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Something Weird… « the Progenitor
[...] not even that bothered about not having a working PS2! Search [...]
May 28, 2008 at 7:42 pm
pepsoid
Useful indeed, Free!
I have considered the… um… Wii factor… but as I was just saying to the mother2b t’other day, although I do enjoy a spot of gaming, I actually would like to make a concerted effort to discourage such things in my child for as long as possible…
I didn’t always have a games console! And as such, I have learnt to love reading, writing and the most precious art of conversation… and other non-electronic means of fun, such as playing board games, bike-riding, tennis, swingball, etc, etc, etc.
I love playing computer games, but I also see how easy it is to allow them to become addictive! I *hope* I have more or less got *my* potential addiction under control… and I am determined not to foster such in my progeny!
May 28, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Free to think, free to believe...
Did you ever play Diplomacy? I’m perpetually trying to find enough folk for a game…
Sad that I am…
On another note – given the time required and the repetitiveness – I would assume, if I were you, that in the end I would resent that ’stuff’ – the new turns to commonplace and then…
On the other hand my thoughts tell me that if you prepare for resentfulness then you can take it and deal with it appropriately which would be better than other ways…
May 29, 2008 at 8:05 am
pepsoid
Heard of, but not played Diplomacy… having just skimmed the Wikipedia entry on such, it looks somewhat similar to Risk (if my memory of Risk serves me correctly)! Would you be contemplating playing by mail/email?
June 2, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I’m Looking Forward to… « the art of tea
[...] 4 Days Later Kaput! Published [...]
June 6, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Free to think, free to believe...
I would be contemplating a reply!