It’s true. I really do. I don’t have much time to do it anymore, but I wish I did.

When I was in junior high, high school and college, I spent time in the arcades. Frogger, Missile Command, Joust, Dig Dug, Centipede, Gauntlet, Rampage, Crystal Castles and my all time favorite – Tempest. At home we had an Atari system – Pitfall and Space Invaders were my favorites to play. We even played Castle Wolfenstein on our Apple IIe.

After I joined the Air Force in 1988, I guess I lost interest. We were always going out and partying (or staying in the dorms and partying) when we weren’t working/eating/sleeping/working out.

Then I think I was anti-game for a while. I really wasn’t interested in having a game system in the house.

In 2001, through a radio station giveaway at my dojo, I entered a drawing and won an XBox. I immediately thought that I would just give it to my nephew Tyler.

Until I took it home and tried it. Then I was hooked. I think the first game I got was Munch’s Odyssey. I really had fun with it.

Then came Halo.

Cue Halo Theme

I was hooked. I picked a great game to be my very first first person shooter game. We played cooperative campaign all the way through on Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary. Throughout my pregnancy with Zander, we played nearly every night. After Zander was born, I swear the familiar sounds of us killing aliens lulled him to sleep at night. When friends came over, it was all about multiplayer – and the joy of hearing “Killing Spree” as I mowed down all my friends with a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher.

As Zander got a bit older, I wasn’t able to play as much. Zander and I spent a good deal of time watching Dad play Morrowind. Then Zevan was born. And later in 2004, Halo 2 was released. Of course we got it. And the discovery of wielding multiple weapons and the ability to use an energy sword made the game really fun. What sucked was that it had a cliffhanger ending. And Halo 3 would be created for XBox 360. Which we still don’t have. And I have not yet played.

When Zander was 4, we introduced him to video games on our XBox. Cars, Finding Nemo and Godzilla. Then we had to take Godzilla away until he turned 5 because it made him overexcited and prone to tantrums. Then we got a Nintendo 64 which got him introduced to more kid friendly games like Yoshi’s Story (which I love but am not very good at) and Pokemon Snap. And Zevan got into the games as well.

And then they graduated to a GameCube. And now they’re playing games that I actually enjoy playing with them – like Teen Titans or Lego Star Wars. And that they actually ask me to play with them.

Nothing warmed my heart more than, “Mom, you have to play Teen Titans with us. We always get farther on the level when you play with us.”

It’s even more fun when Doug comes in, and we invite him to join us. Yep, it’s pretty cool.

I’m glad I’m a mom that likes playing video games.