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I know I am going to sound like a real w(b)itch now, but it’s BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD for your kids!!  Stii and I use to have quite a clear understanding when it comes to computer/playstation games (this relates to Ian - 7 years old, … Stii I’m still struggling with …).  I think as time went by and both of us became extremely busy it was easier to bend our rules, to suit us as parents, and not thinking of the affect it’s having on Ian.  Ian loves his games, he will play games for hours, quickly rushing to the loo every 2nd hour just because he HAS to, otherwise he’ll go on and on and on.

Friday night we had an incident at a friend’s house, but first I need to explain Ian’s personality.  In short, if you know Stii, you know Ian.  He’s a very pleasant, very calm, very easy going little boy, without having hang-ups about anything.  Ian eats broccoli because his mother tells him to do so … just to give you an idea.  What happened on Friday night was so out of his character and my heart was breaking for him because I know that’s not the child we’ve been raising for the past 7 years.

Ian was playing with his friend (almost same age) and they’ve been swimming and playing all day without any problems.  They’ve been fighting (playing) and then all of a sudden Ian jumped on top of his friend and started hitting him without end. He kept going and going and if it weren’t for the dads that intervened, he could have hurt his friend very badly.  The story behind the story we heard only later, when Ian explained that he was thrown from the chair onto his neck and his neck was hurt very badly and he was defending himself.  Now, I don’t have a problem with Ian defending himself, but I do have a problem with him not knowing when to stop!!  And not knowing when to stop is the false sense of security that games implant in their little minds.  In the gaming world they are invincible.  Believe me, I’m not talking about a game with an age restriction of 18 years, I’m talking about a game for ages 3+.  Ian loves this specific stupid game where they shoot/hit everybody and everything and after a while all is well and alive again and they can do it all over again, and the more they do it, the more money (points) they generate.  And with us, as parents, giving him the tool in his hand and allowing him to be exposed to such crap, is inexcusable from us.  We were given, by God, 2 beautiful, innocent souls, to mold and shape in order to produce well balanced God fearing, grown ups.  And because of what we’re allowing, thinking it’s not that bad - he’s just playing games, he’s in our house, nobody can do him any harm, nobody can expose him to drugs - has done exactly the opposite.  And yes, both Stii and I needed this experience to open our eyes to the cruel reality of computer/playstation games.

Stii and I still need to sort out exactly how we are going to manage it, but the playstation has been packed away, TV limited to the absolute minimum, and we, as parents, will spend more quality time with our 2 sons.

Stii and I took the boys to the beach today, for the first time this season (as everybody knows, the best time to come to the Garden Route for a holiday is during February/March).  We’ve got the best weather during February, and with the recent floods we’ve had, the beach was out of the question.  Today, being extremely hot, we set off to Hartenbos to visit my mom and dad and to take the boys to the beach.  What a joy it was!  I’m not particularly fond of the beach as I hate the sand that gets into places you never even thought you had, but Stii and the kids love it.  I was sitting there thinking how privileged we are having the sea and the most beautiful mountains on our doorstep.  The sad thing is that when you live here, you tend to forget about it.  It’s only when you see all the holiday makers with GP and FS number plates that you all of a sudden realise it’s time to go to the beach again.  Then everything/every place is crowded.  You don’t get parking close to the beach and have to walk for 10 minutes, and you get irritated with the holiday makers, but forgetting that we’ve got the luxury of the sea 365 days a year.  I still don’t see myself paying thousands of rands, to have a holiday by the sea (maybe because we grew up here and  is taking our blessings for granted),  but I also think that people are ripping off holiday makers in the daily rates they’re asking for accomodation.

To all the GP and FS people, you’ve got my sympathy!  To all the locals, look around you, we’ve got so much natural beauty to be grateful for.  Enjoy the mountains, our beautiful forests, beaches and the sea and think of all the people that have never smelled the smell of dampness and wet soil of our fern enriched forests or have felt the sand of the beach underneath their feet, or tasted exactly how salt sea water is when a wave unexpectedly hit you from your feet.