Sunday, July 26, 2009

Confessions of a gaming Mom

I worked a total of 10 hours yesterday, and then five today. Yes, I'm crazy, but someone called in, I was available, and we could use the money, so I went home for a couple of hours and went back in.
I don't usually talk about my kids in the blog. My older son (the aptly named Landsponge) has a elemental shaman that just hit 80 this week. I had played WoW during the break between shifts, and told him he could log in and run some heroics to get gear. Oct decided to get in on the weekly alt Naxx run that one of the raiding guilds does, and asked Sponge if he'd like to come. Now, the casual guild Sponge was in recently was absorbed by the guild I was in for CRC, and they have a very strict no-pugging rule. I don't think Sponge knew it, and Oct wouldn't remember or think about it, so in Sponge went, and did well. He followed directions and was polite, and was rewarded with gear and achievements. Unfortunately, the achievements caught the eye of his guildleader, who informed him he wasn't a good fit for the guild, and kicked him.
I heard all about it when I got home, and my initial reaction was of a mama bear protecting her cubs. That Sponge also has special needs really made me want to ask the guildleader to give him a pass, because he probably didn't understand the rule. Then I reminded myself that I had pretty strong reservations about Sponge joining my old guild, because I didn't think he'd be a good fit. Today while I was at work, Sponge found a guild with another teenager in leadership, and seems happy.
My reaction surprised me, as it's so easy for me to want to be Mom in WoW, and make things easier for him like I want to do in real life. I have to remind myself not to do it too much in real life also, knowing that my mom's support was good, but her rescues didn't teach me to cope with the effects of all my disorders.
In the end, though, the fact that he followed directions and was well-behaved made his parents very proud, puts him ahead of some adult players, and means that he will be welcomed back into pugs with elite players. That is win.

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