Mattress Fun

December 30, 2009 by Adam in Sam

One of the presents I got the kids was an inflatable mattress.  It was spontaneous, something I found on sale at Fred Meyer's.  They'd had a previous one, which they destroyed after some extreme play sessions.  The same might happen with this one, but at least they'll have gotten quite a bit of joy out of it.

Sam also decided to start an exercise routine last night.  He was doing push-ups, jumping jacks, and did the stair-stepper while watching Lost for 20 minutes.  I'm really proud of him.

The Dangers of Cough Syrup

December 25, 2009 by Adam in Sam

Sam's had a loose tooth for awhile now, and has had a pretty bad cough for a couple days now.  Last I gave him a bunch of cough syrup and sent him off to bed.  A few minutes later, he came down, wiggling his tooth and making odd noises.  For nearly a half an hour he fiddled with the thing, moving it this way and that.  I threatened to send him to bed, but he got it out with powerful sucking and claimed victory.

This morning when Emma woke up, I told her about it.  She seemed more excited about the loose tooth than opening her Christmas stocking.  We wrote a note from the tooth fairy together and I gave him a dollar.  When Sam woke up, his first words were, "Well, at least it's not a quarter."

Into Each Generation, A Hero Is Born

December 15, 2009 by Adam in Sam

I try hard to find ways to connect with Sam.  Emma's pretty easy, giving love and kisses and letting her help in the kitchen.  With Sam, we have episodes of Lost, computer games, and D&D.

Last night I came home from work late, fed the kids, and broke out the previously promised D&D books and paper.  Emma wasn't horribly into it, but Sam was mesmerized.  The village they adopted was suffering through a cold winter and they needed supplies.  They had gone to a nearby town to trade, but found only zombies and a few surviving children that they rescued.  The warehouse was guarded by an automaton, which Sam cleverly lured out to defeat the last of the zombies, using the distraction to haul off the last of the food.

He was so excited that he came up with the idea on his own, and rolled a 20 on a 20 sided die for the last-minute leap out of the way.  He immediately told Emma the whole story, who had wandered off to do art.  After returning to his home village, he liked the part where hope was restored and they were hailed as returning heroes.

One of the things I've found when making computer games is that while I get a lot of "thanks for the fun game" e-mails, the ones from people in dire straights are the most touching.  I'll never forget the woman dying of cancer, and how playing my game with her husband made him laugh out loud for the first time in ages.  With Sam, I like how I can give him that sense of hope and purpose, that his actions can determine the fate of countless souls.  I remember not feeling very in control of my life when my parents divorced, so I like seeing him create these small moments of victory.