not so good at that

Andrew left yesterday for Lithuania - twelve days hanging with kids at an orphanage our church supports over there. He plans to tousle them up, shower them with love and teach them the finer points of guitar shredding, or at least play for them a little. I am so proud of him for stepping up and volunteering for the trip. And we're fine here - PB&J and banana splits every night. Can't beat that.

Today we hit the farmer's market, the library and the annual Riverfest, had a picnic lunch in the park and played Legos. I'd say that's worthy of mother of the year award.

The real telling moment, though, was when Liam took his 30 minutes video game time. After 5 minutes he called me and said he needed me. (I was washing the kitchen floor. Seriously. For the first time in three months.)

"Mom," he said. "I need to get ten points. Can you do it for me. Please?"

Now, we are not all newfangled with the WII. Our Nintendo system is so old the library doesn't even carry games for it. This was some Star Wars game where you have to fly your ship over these islands and swoop in and shoot down all the enemy convoys - with a 20 button joystick. I am all into equal opportunity, but this is really a boy thing. Still, I took the controls and said I'd give it a try.

After Liam patiently explained to me what all the buttons controlled, I hit the start and immediately nose dived into the ocean, blowing my ship to fiery bits.

"Oh, mom!" Liam cried. "You have to look where you're going."

Hmm. Yeah. Okay. Next start. To avoid the crash and burn, I forced the fighter straight up. After watching clouds soar by for a few seconds, Liam sighed.

"You aren't going to get any bad guys that way."

So, I jiggled the controls around and promptly smashed into a cliff. Firing my guns all the way.

I glanced over at Liam who was shaking his head. Then he looked at me, held out his hand and sighed.

"Mom, you better give that to me," he said. "You're not very good at this."

Although I know Andrew would have adeptly blasted each and every enemy convoy, I am proud to report that Liam did the job himself. After watching his mom play he must have figured he was good at the game after all.