It's Just a Game, Right?

So yesterday at dinner, Emily was kind of solemn. Not in the usual "I'm 9" solemnity - but in the very grown up and guilt laden solemn.

She gave up one of her Nintendog pets for adoption.

For those of you 'not in the know' about Nintedogs - they are virtual pets made for the Nintendo DS hand held game system. You get this pet..it responds to your voice command. You play games and teach it to do tricks. You earn money to buy things for your dog and feed it, groom it, scratch it behind the ears, rub its belly, clean its poop. That sort of thing. (sound familiar moms and dads - it's called work)

So Emily says - "I think I did something wrong."
Me: thinking she cut her sister's hair, or sold her into servitude or something... "What did you do?"
Emily: "I just wanted to see if I could send Coco to the doggy hotel just for a little while and get my money back, but she's gone."
Hubby and I: not wordly in the ways of video gaming "?"
Emily: after explaining that the doggy hotel is the orphanage from whence said Nintedogs are adopted. " but I can't get her back. She was very disobedient anyway. I tried to teach her to play frisbee, but she just wanted to run around the yard and dig holes. I tried to groom her all nice, but she just wanted to roll in the dirt. "
Me: " So you'll earn money and adopt another dog. No biggie."
Emily: " I feel badly about giving up on Coco"

You see, Emily learned her first valuable lesson in parenting. She feels guilt about her failure -
not about the dumb virtual dog - but about her ability to effectively train the thing and have it respond the way she wanted. (sound familiar moms and dads? it's called parenting)

Me: "There isn't a day that goes by - hell, there isn't a minute that goes by - when I don't feel badly about something I did or didn't do as a mommy. But I can't just give up on the trying to do the right thing part and give up on you guys. I can't just drop you off at the kid hotel and wait 'til I have enough money to buy another one. I have to reflect and figure out what I did and what I can do differently the next time."
Hubby: "It's just a game, right?"
Me and Emily "...?..."

It's just a game, right? Or is it?

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Hey - I just got an award from Nana's Box - if you haven't seen this what this gal does for people afflicted with the cancer you should. Thanks for the shout out, but how you could possibly compare my meager little blah -blah -blog to what you do for real people and real survivors ...well, I just don't see the parallel there. You, my dear Nana, are a doll.


And speaking of worthy causes - and as much as I hate doing this....I am participating the in Conejo Valley Relay for Life next weekend. I have volunteered for this 24 hour event for the past few years, but this time the event means something completely different to me. My wonderful father passed away this past January from rare form of skin cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma. He also had Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia ( the big C double whammy if you will). What makes this year even more profound is my own diagnosis, treatment and recovery from Thyroid cancer. I've blogged about all of this (go back to my February posts if you want, no need to link here) I actually sent out solicitous emails this year to have people donate to my Reasons to Relay - and am close to making my fundraising goal. If you want, you can support me by clicking here ... (your donation is 100% tax deductible)

I can't think of anyone whose lives haven't been touched by the scourge of cancer in some way, shape or form. Give up a couple half caf mochachino latte with pumpkin foams this week and click here.

A multitude of thanks to everyone!