Obsession

My eldest son is obsessed with Minecraft, an open-ended, creative video game (think Legos, except you have to mine, chop, or gather the pieces you want to use, and where zombies will kill you if you can’t find a safe place at night).  Though he is only allowed an hour of screen time a day, he thinks and talks about the game constantly, to the point where my eyes start to glaze every time I hear the word.

Now, to be honest, it’s a really cool game.  I like to play it too when I have a minute, though I have a really low tolerance for most video games.  Minecraft is far more creative and instructive than most of the mindless games out there (we’ve even used it to explore different historical styles of architecture), so if he’s going to be obsessed with any game, I’d prefer it be this one.

Even so, it is amazing to me the capacity for a child’s mind to fixate on something (whether it be a game, or a toy, or a show).  It reminds me how important it is to keep a variety of activities and experiences available to young minds, even if they would prefer to obsess on one thing only.