We are a gaming family. It’s my husband’s fault for getting hooked when the original Xbox made its debut and he became addicted to the Halo games. In turn, he got our boys hooked, and they got their sister to play, too (they were determined to have a rough and tumble tomboy sister, lol).

To date, everyone has their own gaming consoles: hubby and the boys each have an Xbox, my daughter has her gaming computer and a Nintendo Switch, and my youngest also has a gaming computer in addition to his Xbox. Excessive maybe, but they’re all happy gamers.

For the longest time, I stuck to my iPad games. I grew up on the original Nintendo gaming system, but admittedly, I’m not that great of a player. Mobile games seemed to be more of my speed. Hubby did buy me a Wii and then a WiiU, but as a mom, I could never find any time to play.

I’m now in a different season of life: my three oldest children are young adults and my youngest is a junior in high school, which means my days are no longer filled with homeschooling. There’s still housework and such, but for the most part, I’m a lady of leisure. I’m still trying to figure out what to fill my hours with besides laying in bed during a Fibromyalgia flare up.

All that to say, I finally caved and bought myself a Nintendo Switch. I’ve been saving for one for about a year now and i finally pulled the trigger. It’s been a fun, slap of reality experience. Fun as in I get to play the original Super Mario Bros games (which I’m terrible at, lol), as well as Minecraft and Pokémon (still learning); and a slap of reality as I realize I am by no means a gamer. How in the world did I play when I was younger.

However, it’s been a great motivator for me. I’ve gotten into the mindset that if I want to game, I have to do my chores first and/or any errands that need to be done. Also, my hubby and youngest son convinced me to create a Twitch account so I can stream my attempts at reliving my childhood gaming experience. I have to adult first before I can play and/or stream. And, it’s been working!

Some days I just play to play. It’s nice to have a portable console so I can lay in bed as I play, using it to distract myself from the aches and pains of my illnesses. Sometimes I feel well enough to do a stream and I get to meet other gamers. I’ve really been enjoying the experience.

Does this mean I’m a gamer now? Skill wise, absolutely not. But, in terms of bonding with my kids more, then heck yeah! I’ve finally found my place in our gaming family.