(Untitled)

[gosling]

My older kid is designing increasingly impressive structures with Minecraft. It has also become a huge point of social connection with other kids, something that fills him and them with such shared enthusiasm and joy and has really helped build and deepen a lot of his friendships with other kids. He just lights up talking about it with me and

Comments

[spinrabbit]

It's hard to find the balancing points definitely. I think you can value what he's getting out of minecraft and allow him to do it quite a bit, and still sometimes say now is time for things that are not minecraft. (Or, say, anime and vloggers, if we we were talking about my kid...)

I send you sustaining hugs.

[achinhibitor]

If there's anything that humans have been selected for for over a million years, it's how to become a functional adult when one is raised by mediocre parents. Obviously, you want to try to do your best, but don't sweat it too much.
In contemporary middle-class American culture, parenting is seen as an awesome responsibility, an unforgiving vigil to keep the helpless infant from falling behind in the great race of life. [... This is] part of the same mentality that sends yuppies to "learning centers" to buy little mittens with bull's-eyes to help their babies find their hands sooner. -- Steven Pinker, "The Language Instinct"

[drwex]

Parenting is complicated. Emotions around parenting are even more complicated.

Ayep.

[aerynne]

I think one useful frame to look at his computer time is that you know lots of (and maybe are) grown ups who spend much of both their work and leisure time at screens. It's not that he shouldn't also be doing other things, but if there are also zoo trips and bike rides and such, and he's doing active engagement with both the game and the relationships he's building through it, there's definitely an argument to be made for continuing.

[chhotii]

Yup, all of this...