Video Games

Stoughton Library Events for Week Running May 19-23

The following is a list of events hosted by the Stoughton Public Library (SPL) for the week of May 18.

The Teen Space is open Tuesday-Thursday afternoons, 2:30-4:45. The space has video games, board games, card games, and craft supplies.

Wednesday

SPL’s 50+ Job Seekers Networking Group will meet via Zoom on Wednesday morning at 9:00. Professional Coach Deborah Hope will facilitate this informative session. In addition to networking opportunities, there will also be access to hiring managers. Creating a job search tool kit, topical presentations, interactive workshops, ad coaching guidance are also usually featured at the bi-weekly sessions.

The theme of Wednesday’s session is “Second Act Careers.” The Networking group is open to anyone ages 50+ who are looking for a new job or career direction. You can register for the event by clicking here.

Drop-in Chess for Kids will take place on Wednesday afternoon at 5:00. Chess players ages 5-11 are invited to the Children’s Room for an hour of castling and batteries. Instruction is available, but children are expected to have a basic understanding of the game.

At 6:00, Peggy Sewyck will host Teddy Bear Storytime in the Children’s Craft Room. Children ages 4-7 are invited to wear their pajamas and bring their stuffed friend.

Thursday

Family Storytime will be on Thursday morning, 10:00-10:30 in the Community Room. Storytime is for children ages 2-6.

Drop-in Scrabble will be in the Conference Room from 1:00-4:30 p.m. No registration is necessary. The Conference Room is located on the library’s top floor.

Friday

Baby Storytime will be held in the library’s Community Room at 10:00 on Friday morning. Baby Storytime is open for children ages 0-6 and their caretakers.

Saturday

Saturday Morning is Storytime for children ages 3-7 in the Children’s Craft Room. Sewyck hosts the activity, running 10:00-10:30 Saturday morning. Storytime includes stories and singing songs.

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“Pro Gamers Guide to Healthy Habits” Teaches True Success

His book features a gamer name Brian who is committed to being, “the greatest gamer in the entire world.” Unfortunately, Brian isn’t very good at gaming, so he is prepared to practice all day and into the night to sharpen his skills and achieve his goal. As a result, he sleeps too late and misses half the day. In order to get energy, he eats candy and energy drinks. The sustenance is loaded with sugar. It gives him bursts of energy, but he soon crashes and he feels worse than he did before he ingested all of the sugar.

I grew up with video games and spent afternoons, evenings, holidays and vacations playing some form of them. This experience with video games came in handy when I worked retail. People came in looking for a console or a game to buy as a gift, and I was able to help them with their purchases.

Today, there are a lot more options for kids than there were when friends and I were running and jumping for high scores, but that was okay. The games we had were enough for our delusions of grandeur. Also, a special thank you to the good people at Nintendo for allowing us to download these games onto Nintendo Switch. Replaying these games are a great way to spend some time when I need to escape my Miracles of Christ.

Video Games are Fun

Video games are fun, but it’s important to keep everything in moderation. Too much of a good thing, and it stops being a good thing. Video games are a great example of that. While it’s great to unwind and decompress with a little of your favorite console, it’s important to make sure it doesn’t take up your whole day, or your whole life.

If you’re a parent, you already know this, and it’s very possible you have spoken to your child about this more than once. Video games are fun, but there are other ways of having fun, and trying those other ways can help you child develop healthy habits.

Brian Saviano knows what you already know, but your children haven’t quite learned and understood yet. Gaming can be fun, but it’s also important to do other things in your life. It’s important to have a social life outside of electronics and outside of your home. Social interactions are important.

Brian’s Obsession with Gaming

Brian has written “Pro Gamers Guide to Healthy Habits”. His book features a gamer name Brian who is committed to being, “the greatest gamer in the entire world.” Unfortunately, Brian isn’t very good at gaming, so he is prepared to practice all day and into the night to sharpen his skills and achieve his goal. As a result, he sleeps too late and misses half the day. In order to get energy, he eats candy and energy drinks. The sustenance is loaded with sugar. It gives him bursts of energy, but he soon crashes and he feels worse than he did before he ingested all of the sugar.

He feels sick when he crashes. Too much sugar is bad for you. Brian’s pet parrot, Pauly, reminds him how much sugar was in the candy he ate. No wonder Brian felt sick.

Brian is sick from the sugar he ate, and he feels bad because he regrets sleeping late and missing half the day. He really wanted to be a good gamer, but it’s not worth it if this is how he’s going to feel. Brian needs to make changes to his lifestyle.

Healthy Habits are Important for Kids

Gaming is fun, but it’s not fun if you’re in front of a screen all day. It’s not fun if you’re eating junk food the whole time. Spending your day on a couch isn’t healthy. For kids today, there are a lot of options when it comes to gaming and screens. These make it easy to lose track of time. As parents, we need to make sure there are other things to balance that out. Part of our jobs as moms and dads is to keep our children healthy. This includes monitoring screen time and making sure they get plenty of exercise.

If your child is spending too much time being sedentary, “Pro Gamers Guide” is a great read for them. It will explain why it isn’t a good idea for them to be on their rear ends all day. It will also illustrate the negatives of not being active and how much they will like being on their feet and going outside to interact with other human beings. There’s nothing wrong with gaming. It’s a lot of fun, but there are other ways of having fun. Brian’s book shows you those ways and how your children can accomplish them.

Pizza Bagels, Video Games, and Batteries

I needed to drop one of my children at their friend’s house last week. I know the father, so I stayed for a bit and talked over a beer. We were in the living room, where one of his kids was playing video games.

I’ve met a lot of kids over the course of parenthood, foster parenting, coaching, school pickup and drop-off, and a variety of other circumstances and duties. I think teens are the funniest, and this encounter with another life expert who is still in high school was no exception. Loyal daddies and mommies are familiar with our friend Wilt. Wilt was a child of another friend who seemed to know everything about life, especially basketball. Check out the link I so generously provided. If you have teenagers, you’ll understand what I’m telling you.

I think teenagers are the funniest, and this encounter with another life expert who is still in high school is no exception.

My child and I arrive at the house and the younger children quickly disappear upstairs. I remain downstairs, where “15” is dealing with one of the many challenges you face when trying to assemble a team on a video game. Dad is also in the living room finishing up work before getting ready to go out for the evening. It’s not an easy time for “15”. He’s playing a soccer game on his console, and he’s trying to assemble a national team. Apparently American soccer players are few and far between, and the good ones are even harder to find. I would like to help him, but I know nothing about who plays soccer, let alone where they hail from.

My friend and I watch “15” scroll through lists of players and their attributes. I offer whatever advice I can, but nothing works. The game works in a certain way, and you can’t just create a player and place him on your team. I literally haven’t played a soccer video game since last century, so I’m pretty much useless.

The Smoke Alarm

It gets harder for “15”. Not only does the field of available players lack what he needs, but the battery in the living room’s smoke alarm died, and there is an annoying “chirp” signaling the need for a new one. Each shrill call for a new battery is grating on the virtual general manager, who is having enough headaches with his lacking roster. He’s finally had enough, and he marches to the smoke detector, pulls it from the wall, and then the real struggle begins.

“15” has the smoke detector in his hands. The battery needs to be replaced, but first the old battery needs to be extracted. The Chinese water torture is getting to be too much for the lad, who can get the compartment open, but can’t get the battery out. Dad is enjoying this and so am I, to be honest with you. Finally, I show mercy to the poor child and take the battery out for them. After said extraction, I hold up the 9-volt nemesis and sing, “Ta-daa!” Now it’s time for a new battery, but there is no 9-volt battery in the house. So, the smoke detector sits on the end table sans battery for the time being.

A New Battery

I return home to take care of some chores and duties while my child is away at her friends. My friend has plans that evening, so I am sure to be there promptly to take my child home. I arrive at the house with a gift for “15”. A brand new 9-volt battery. To this day, I am mad at myself for not putting a bow on it.

I proudly present the lad with the gift and the life lesson. He installs the battery and places the smoke detector back in its proper place. Dad and I are proud of the child for doing his part to keep the house and his family safe and secure. Now, it’s back to video games where he has moved on from soccer to basketball. Dad and I are watching him scroll through teams and players. “15” makes some comments about Larry Bird, causing Dad to educate his child about Bird and Bill Russell. Meanwhile, we continue to watch him play.

“Hey, Auerbach,” I say.

“What?”

“I called you ‘Auerbach’.” Dad laughs. The child has no idea what I’m talking about, nor does he understand the reference to his basketball personnel moves.

Pizza Bagels

It’s time for a break in the action. “15” needs food. His dad follows him to the kitchen for a beer. “15” wants to make a pizza bagel. Dad and I watch the child struggle to slice a pre-sliced bagel. We remind the child it’s already pre-sliced, but this doesn’t matter to him because it’s not, “pre-sliced enough”. He gets the bagel sliced and prepares with sauce and toasts it. When it’s done, he has enough grated parmesan cheese for a dozen pizza bagels.

“Hey, Fieri,” I say after a sip of my beer, “Do you want some bagel to go with that cheese?”

He tells me he has a solution and carefully shakes some cheese from one slice of the bagel onto the other slice. He then proceeds to eat the bagel while standing up, back turned to the counter. Crumbs fall to the floor. I tell him I’m willing to bet Dad has invested in some plates for the house. Dad tells me he needs to constantly remind him to use a plate when eating. I had no idea it was so chronic.

Driving home with my child, I ask how things went for them. I get home and enjoy one of the beers my friend sent home with me. My daughter and I watch some important, informative video on Harry Potter. While sipping my beer, I wonder if parents of teenagers were really meant to survive.

My new book, “A Collection of Short Stories” is now available on Apple Books.

Rightfully Mine

I find myself losing more and more to a certain child in my home.

One of “The Gaggle” has been with us for a few months and this child has since infringed on things, animals, and people that I hold dear. This person is a nice person: Helps when we need it, asks for help when they need it. They even ask when they need or want to use something. But sometimes…

Kitty and I have taken a liking to each other. I had always been a “Dog Person” until Kitty came to us. With The Wife at work and the Miracles of Christ at school, it was just me and her. We hung out. She kept me company while I folded clothes, washed dishes or cooked. I would wake up with her on or next to me. A couple of confirmed kills in the Mouse Department have cemented her standing as a beloved member of our household.

The Gaggle will run into the house, sometimes body-checking me out of the way. She will yell, “Kitty!” and find her and pick her up. She will cuddle Kitty and make sure I see them in a moment of tender cuddling. The Gaggle smiles. Kitty and I are not amused.

I once got a Nintendo Switch for my birthday. I use it when I can. The Miracles of Christ have a new found interest in video games. God forbid The Boy plays Pac-Man or Space Invaders with me. (He’s still learning and I try to keep it simple for him.) Everyone, including The Gaggle wants my Switch and “The Legend of Zelda”. It was nice when I wanted to kill a few minutes with the game. I constantly hear a knock on the door. “Do you have ‘Zelda’?” “Can I use it?” “Can I use it now?” “Are you done, yet?” Now, I can barely get my hands on it. It got so bad, Wife bought me another Switch and is considering buying another copy of “Zelda”. I would rather defend what’s rightfully mine. It’s gone so well thus far.

My cat. My Switch. My wife… Yeah. My wife, too. At the end of the day, The Gaggle and Wife will sit down to some insipid, mind-numbing television show that has since been cancelled (big surprise). I used to get some time alone at the end of the day with Wife. Now, she has decided to kill brain cells with The Gaggle while The Boy and The Oppressed explain to me why they need to sleep in my bed.