My husband and I had intended to buy our kids a Wii gaming system for Christmas, but there were none to be had. He had been checking stores ever since Christmas, unbeknownst to our kids, and surprised us all by coming home with one Saturday. He got it from a place in town that gave coupons for one free game or video rental a month for a year with the purchase of a Wii, so that’s helpful. It’s nice to be able to try out games before shelling out the big bucks for them.

The Wii, if you don’t know, has sensors that are somehow able to translate your movements to the screen. So instead of just pushing buttons, you have to actually make the moves with your arms. The one game we got (or maybe it was included, I don’t know) was Wii Sports, which had tennis, bowling, baseball, etc., and so you had to actually make a swinging motion with your arms, holding the controller like a bat. It definitely gets players off the couch!

Normally I don’t play video games at all. There is something about the colors or lights and movement or something that really bothers my eyes. Then there’s the annoying music. But I was able to play Wii bowling and enjoy it — I even made the highest score so far for the family. 🙂 My kids seemed to be tickled that I was actually playing a video game.

Something else that’s fun is that you can make up the little character that you play, called a Mii — choose eye color, hair style, etc. You can make it look like yourself or like someone totally different. I was amazed at how much Jeremy’s looked like him — it was so funny. I want to try to get a picture of him and his Mii later. (At the kids’ urging, I named my character Mommii. 🙂 )

So — I guess I know what everyone’s spare moments will be occupied with over the next few days!