Hello Old Friend..Goodbye Productivity

While doing a little spring cleaning I came across a prized possession of mine that I had just recently even noticed I was missing. When I say "missing" what I really mean is I knew it was gone but I hadn't thought about it in years so it was missing but I didn't realize I cared. I pulled a paper shopping bag off the top shelf of our upstairs closet. I peered inside and found a bunch of old photos. As I pulled the photos boxes out of the bag, there it was. I felt like Charlie when he unwrapped the golden ticket. It was my Gameboy, circa 1995.


It was a Christmas gift from Peter the first year we were dating. Now before you vote him off the island for the weirdest Christmas gift to give a girlfriend, let me explain. I was leaving the next day for a family vacation to Mexico. He thought I would have fun playing it on the airplane. He also thought I would need a lot of batteries. When he handed me the box of batteries I noticed another small box attached to them and lo and behold, the boy had bought me a ring! It was a lovely little gold ring with a single ruby in the middle and a small diamond on either side. I loved it! But guess what! I loved that Gameboy even more.

I became an addict. I played it all the time, I even skipped a class once because I had the highest score of my life and there was no way I was turning it off or handing it off to someone else to finish. It went places with me; vacations, trips home to Michigan, doctor's appointments. Sadly, it even escorted me to my graduation from College. I vividly recall sitting there during the commencement ceremony taking turns with another graduate seeing who could get the highest score at Tetris.

Old habits die hard. Since coming back into my life last Saturday, Gameboy and I have rekindled an old flame. Not only did it still work but the batteries were still good. I have picked up where I left off. But now it's different. I'm a mother now. I'm supposed to be using my free time a little more wisely. Take today for example. I was home with both boys and had just put Pierson down for his rest time. I had plans to take Mack to meet up with some friends at a local hotel to swim for a Spring Break treat. He decided to go ahead a little early with Rebecca and her kids so I suddenly found myself alone with a good 2 hours to spare. I got the lunch dishes put into the dishwasher and decided to do a little work on the computer. I finished that and with a good hour and a half to go before I had to get Pierson up and head to the hotel, I decided to jump in the shower. But then I saw it. It was staring at me from the edge of the kitchen counter. I decided to play one game. Before I knew it that one game had turned into God only knows how many but I kept trying to beat my high score and just couldn't put the thing down. 30 minutes later, I was disgusted with myself and finally shut it off. That was 30 minutes I will never get back. I was alone in my house (except for the sleeping child) and had plenty of productive things that could have kept me busy and left me feeling much more satisfied. Like a true addict lured back by temptation, I had hit my low and felt like crap.

Like I said, it's different now. I am a mom. I have no business playing gameboy. Maybe I need to have Peter hide it from me and treat me like the child I become in its presence and only allow me playing privileges when I have been a good girl and earned it. Maybe I can teach Mack how to play Tetris and we can play a two player game and then it will be justified. Maybe I just need to misplace it for another 5 years. I will move on. I will survive. I will find something else to waste my time doing. I have an addictive personality, mostly harmless thank goodness. Ask me about my obsession with scratch off lottery tickets sometime.