Bomb-Ba-Bia!

We have owned a Nintendo Wii since the day they came out. Michael waited in line the day they were released. Actually he was not able to get one at midnight since he was driving through the night, coming home from a youth group trip. However, upon his arrival in town he went straight to Best Buy.  Number 67 to be exact. Almost immediately it went to the youth room. We would bring it home for parties or holidays, but mostly we just let the teens enjoy it.
      Last Easter was a memorable holiday, since it was the first time that Trinity got REALLY involved in the games. Particularly, Mario. You see, Mario has a very important job. He must save the PRINCESS. After a grueling Lenten tour Michael bought a (then new) game Mario Galaxy with the intention of taking the Easter break in Effingham to beat the game. And when I say "beat the game," I really mean "let Steve beat the game." You see, as much as Michael loves video games, he learned long ago that he was better off to let a more skilled player step in for the final levels. So, although almost all of his games have been beaten, it has NOT been by him.
    It was said that playing with Trinity was better than a rumble pack. She did not have any interest in playing. She knew that Michael's skill was much greater than hers (sound familiar?) and so she sat right by his side cheering him on. "Come on dad, you can do it!" She would sit on his lap and tense up when the big bosses came out at the end of each level. She cheered when the princess was saved. but, soon she learned the cruelty of Mario games. Just as soon as the princess was saved, she was kidnapped again!   They continued on, level by level. Trinity by Michael's side. Soon, Michael reached his limit. No matter how hard he tried, he could not pass the level.  "Never give up!" Trinity would cheer. To which Michael tried, but promised - uncle Steve would arrive the next day.
   Steve did arrive and it took him a while to warm up to the game. Trinity was by his side (or better yet on his lap) the whole time. Every waking moment she was begging him to "save the princess!" It was during Trinity's naptime when Steve picked up the controller to get some practice when he realized that he was actually going to WIN. Trinity was nowhere in site. Annie ran up to announce the win and Trinity woke up from a dead sleep and darted down the stairs in less than three seconds and saw the finale!
    After that Easter, the Wii went back to the youth room, but recently the disc drive went bad. Michael decided that it was doing no good at the youth room and brought it home to the kids' bedroom so we could at least watch netflix on it. The only games that we could play on it were games that were downloaded onto the hard drive - namely Mario 64. Michael gave the girls a remote and told them to go crazy. They wondered around the castle a while. Then they realized. THERE WAS A PRINCESS TO BE SAVED!!!!
     They begged and pleaded Michael to come save the princess. He agreed to play one level each night and then told them to work on it themselves. It became Trinity's obsession. She would walk around the house exclaiming "Bomb-ba-bia!" After school, I asked, "How was school?" only to be answered, "Miss Emily says she can beat Bowser!" At night I would hear Annie explaining to Trinity, "Steve can't fly on an airplane to everyone's house to save the princess, it would be too much."
     This Christmas we told the girls to take a nap before going to a family gathering. Michael must have told Trinity that there would be people there who like Mario because when I went to see if she was asleep she said, "I can't wait to meet that man" I guessed, "Kyle?" Yes, that man who can beat Mario. Twenty minutes later I went to check on the nappers to find Trinity restless. "We need to save the princess!"
      Our car broke down that day, so Michael went to the party an hour early with his grandpa. He took Trinity with him so she could play Mario. After dinner I assumed she had integrated herself with the other kids in the bedrooms playing dolls and such. I went to check on her. NOPE. She was sitting on the edge of the couch with the 20-year-olds playing Mario. 4-player goodness. Every 30 seconds or so she would exclaim "O-I-DIED!" When Michael left the party at 10 PM, she was still in that same spot.

      You'll be happy to know that our disc drive was replaced and now Trinity can enjoy more age-appropriate Mario games that she can play herself. Michael has decided that is good bonding time and he sets aside a few minutes each night to play a level with her. She is an aspiring gamer, for sure!