Yesterday, my son and I played Minecraft. I was pretty ticked off with him for a variety of in-game and out-of-game reasons. My in-game reasons? #1 - he chose to build his "Where's My Water" video game experiment over my pig farm; when he tried it out, he flooded my pig sties and I had to spend time repairing my animal shelter and euthanizing escaped pigs. #2 - he wanted to play in the PvP zones and I typed in chat that I'd play with him after I finished fixing my pig pens; the minute I finished my work, he logged off the server! I won't share the out-of-game reasons because I want to preserve his dignity and privacy - no need to air dirty laundry unnecessarily.
I persuaded him to log back on for a PvP match. His sister and our server host joined us to provide even teams. It was a lot of fun! I don't think I've ever played a better round of PvP. We have three PvP zones on our Minecraft server (island of doom, cave and nether) and we chose the Island of Doom. I smite my son with my sword. I pierced his hide with arrows. I ambushed him and slew him where he stood. I faced him in honourable battle and slaughtered him. I stole his team's block in the Capture the Flag and scored points.
Do you know what? After annihilating him in a PvP match, I wasn't as frustrated and infuriated with him as much as before. In fact, we teamed up together to play some more PvP in the cave zone. Now, I have to make it clear that I've never, ever spanked my children. I don't believe in corporal punishment. I don't know what parents feel like while or after they've physically disciplined their children. This was definitely a guilt-free way for me to express my irritation with my boy in a socially acceptable fashion - and it was enjoyable too! He even tried to "make it up to me" by building a huge purple container around his water contraption - I appreciate the gesture, even though it's still leaking over my pigs.
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