Game Boy Blues

Whew! We made it through the day. My little one had a rough night, woke many times screaming during nightmares, but slept late and took the day off from school. I figure today was a 'corrective, mental health day'. I think if he misses a day or two of kindergarten it won't kill anyone. And he would have probably been too exhausted to make it through the day anyway. Besides, he's fairly bored there - he already knows most of what's being taught.

So we shared the day, he relaxing and regaining some composure while I did the usual SAHM things, since it was my day off from work. One of my errands was to go to the DMV to renew my car's registration. Assuming this was going to take all day I came prepared. I brought gum, fruit roll ups (a favorite treat) and the Gameboy.

When we got there we hunkered down with a mouth full of Juicy Fruit and a fist full of 'Tony Hawk's American Skateland'. We were ready. Well, shockingly, the whole excursion took 20 minutes. The people behind the counters were amazingly friendly, the security guard was amicable and engaging, and I didn't have any problems with my paperwork.

With all my excitement and jubilation, and a meter filled with an hour and 40 minutes left, I proposed going to lunch across the street at the Dean and Deluca's cafe. 'You'll love it' I said. 'They have everything: sushi (he loves sushi, but nothing raw), great sodas and amazing desserts'. I was so elated by our brief and pleasant encounter with the DMV I was ready to splurge and spoil. No response. 'Come on kiddo, this is a one in a life time chance!'. Nothing. I could not peel him away. What irony - we were stuck at the DMV, and it had nothing to do with my car. It was the Gameboy.

Trying to remind myself that this was 'corrective mental health day' I swallowed my frustration, mustered up my patients, and calmly and gently guided him by the back of his shoulders out of the DMV. Moving him along gently in front of me I piloted him into the elevator. We went up the 2 flights, exited the building and crossed the street to Dean and Deluca's. All the while little son played his Gameboy, not once looking up to venture a gaze as to see where he was going. He was transfixed on the game, eyes glued to the tiny screen, occasionally wincing and grunting when his skateborder fell. While he grinded ollies on the half pipe, I navigated him through the crowded market, jockeying him along by the nape of the neck, occasionally shoving small tastes of various dishes into his mouth until he grunted in agreement that we had found the right one. Not once did he take his eyes off the Gameboy.

People occasionally looked at us and giggled, probably because he is so cute. But I was feeling like the looser mother of the year, engrossing my kid in video games even while going food shopping! And what made matters worse was the fact that he looked like some sort of robot, and that I was using his neck like some sort of control device or joystick. We eventually paid for our food, got out of dodge, made a B-line for the car, jumped in, and scurried home. The Gameboy session finally came to a end as a result of a bout of motion sickness it was causing on the ride uptown.

I guess the moral to the story is never underestimate the DMV.