The one year anniversary of A Good Husband came and went without much fanfare (first post here). This has been a modest project by any measurement, but I am glad that it has been met with well wishes by so many of you. For the next few days, until after the New Year, I want to share with you some of the best posts from the last year.
The Xbox Conundrum was my first post that got Dugg and Stumbled. There were dozens of comments (now erased after I moved servers) from women about how they became Xbox widows. This post inspired me to do a little digging to find out how many women this was happening to, and how real video game addiction is.
Here’s the post, in its entirety:
At my company work party they gave away a bunch of video game consoles. I won an Xbox 360. I’ve wanted an Xbox for a really long time now. I haven’t had one since the Sega Genesis (anybody else remember Shining Force, that game was awesome!).
I was absolutely ecstatic last night when I won. I made a bit of a fool of myself because I was so excited (but I do that on a regular basis, so no one was surprised). I jumped up and down and screamed a lot. My co-workers were excited for me so that I can join the ranks of after work online play.
My coworker’s wife said, “Does your wife know she’s never going to see you again?”
It made me stop and pause. I thought about how much some men that I know play Xbox. While her comment was said jokingly it held a kernel of truth. Her husband is a good guy. He works hard at work, and is a valuable employee. I also believe that he’s a good husband and father to their children.
It made me think. How much time is too much time in front of the video game console? It’s a serious issue. With so much media out there distracting our time, and treatment programs opening worldwide for video game addiction, men (and women) have to evaluate how much time they’re spending in front of the screen.
EDIT: Derek Semmler over at Dad Balance has made a note on how the Nintendo Wii can help you experience time travel.
Even if we’re not addicted, how much time is too much time? What do you think?
my husband of almost 9 years is a gamer, and while i do occasionally enjoy a game or two, I usually tire of it within 2 days never to pick it up again. I understand the appeal of playing something fun, but i don't understand how you can look at the clock and see your life slipping away from you. manytimes if i get wrapped up in something and i see "oh 5 hours has passed" I start to feel depressed that i wasted my time on something that doesn't really matter... it doesn't full fill me, and it doesn't make my life any better.... it just distracts me.
That is my husband's being addiction. he would play video games 24/7 if he could. usually he is good about turning off the game when i start to complain, but i can see it in his eyes that he is just itching to play it again.
when he gets a game that he really likes he plays it so frequently that sometimes he'll choose to stay up until 3 in the morning, (knowing that he has to be up by 5! and then he is a complete cranky jerk for the rest of the day. Friday nights he stays up at all hours playing XBox then come saturday he is sleeping on and off, i can't get him to do anything litterally he has not mowed the yard in a month! he just turned 39 (no we don't have any kids, due to his inability to produce sperm) I told him that when he turns 40 if he is still playing Video games i will divorce him.. (I just turned 30 BTW so i am still young, and extremely serious on my threat, in other words good luck to him trying to find another woman that would put up with his 40 y/o XBox playing @ss.... but whats worse almost all of the guys that he knows plays video games. a 38 year old friend for 14+ years will spend 12 hours at a time playing video games! it unbelieveable!
and you know what else? if he is not playing video games then he is watching his stupid DVR shows! or blindly watching tv... i'd love to just get rid of the Dish, the Xbox, and the internet for a few weeks... maybe he might actually get his pasty white butt off the couch and see that there is so much more to life than whatever stupid game he is playing right now!
and on that note I'd just like to finish up my little rant by writing that i feel like I live with an annoying roomate. i know my husband was this way when i met him but during our engagement, and the first 3 years of our marriage he wasn't like this... he had just turned 30 and he was getting over addiction... then he makes friends with some younger video playing guy at his job, who gets him hooked on some borrowed games and now all of a sudden there is a dent in the couch from where his @ss is firmly planted 8 hours a day.
I think it is disgusting how much guys play video games. you guys are being horrible role models for your kids! i know 2 guys who have young kids 1 guy bought the Lego games for his son and any time they spent together it was always playing the game! and the other guy with a young kid is my sister's husband! he got my nephew hooked on Video games and now my little 6 year old Nephew will pee himself while he is sitting on the floor playing video games because he holds it and holds it until he can't hold it anymore! and the reason why he holds it instead of going to the bathroom is because he doesn't want to stop playing the stupid video game!!!
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