We're Having a Wii Bit of Fun

A few years ago, Liz told me that my nephew, Taylor, was going to get a Wii and that he was going to go stand in line for it so that he could be sure to get one. When I heard that, I thought, yeah...whatever. It's some new technological entertainment gizmo that I'd never have any contact with, kind of like all the other gaming systems out there. I was happy that he was happy, but I figured that he was just doing the teenager thing by getting all excited about this new system.

Not long after that, Dylan, our nephew from Utah, brough his Wii to Oma's house one summer vacation and taught us all how to use it. With so many relatives in the Weinhardt family, I actually never had a chance to play it, but I did catch a glimpse of all these kids, teenagers and a few young adults huddling around the screen. I guessed it was a 'young cousin' kind of thing to be doing.

A few years later, my friend Julie bought a Wii and told me all about it. Yeah...whatever. I figured she was just trying to pretend she was back in her teenage years by getting in on this Wii craze. THEN - - - she invited me and our friend Connie to come over and play a few games of bowling and tennis with her! There we were, three moms taking turns playing Wii Sports together while we made our children sit on the couch behind us and watch! (Now I realize the torture we put our little ones through, but at the time, it just seemed the most reasonable thing to do. To keep everyone from fighting, you know.)

Julie doesn't know this, but ever since that day I have secretly wished that she would invite me over again so that I could play with her Wii. I had fallen in love with it, but she was the only one close enough that I knew that had one. I waited and waited. I have been there many times since, but she never offered to let me play and there was NO WAY I was going to let her know that I really, really wanted to play it again. I WAS a forty-something-year-old woman, you know! I didn't want her to look down on me for wanting to come to her house just to play her Wii!

Well, last night she invited me over TO PLAY HER Wii!!!! Seriously! She specifically invited me to play on the Wii! She was so sweet about it, too. We played a few of the new games that she had, and then she said the most considerate words ever, "What do you want to play, Martha? We can play whatever you want!" Oh joy!!! I chose tennis, and then bowling. And then more tennis and then more bowling. I could have kept going, but it was getting late and I remembered that I was a wife and mother and that I had to be up early the next morning, so I left. I left, not knowing when I would ever be able to play bowling on Wii Sports again. Sigh.

Moving along to reality ....

Today I spent the morning at a friend's house, helping her out as she and her family have been extremely ill the past three weeks. She has been in and out of the hospital several times since just before Christmas due to a blood clot that was found in her lung. Her daughter and her husband came down with pink eye and the other daughter caught chicken pox and the flu right before Christmas! This poor woman needed someone to come give her a break! So I spent the morning at her house cooking and doing laundry for her (why is it always easier at someone else's house?!), and as I was leaving she said something that was equally as sweet as Julie's comment the night before! She said, "Martha, would you like to borrow my Wii for a month? I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous for six weeks and I'm the only one that uses this, so rather than have it sit here, do you want to borrow it?"

WOOHOO!!!! Trying not to show too much exaggerated excitement, I told her that that would be wonderful and that I would love to borrow her Wii for a month! The two of us had tried to do Wii Active several months ago, but life got busy and we both quit, but NOW I can start it up again! At least for a month, that is.

This afternoon, I brought home this glorious gift and have been able to use it as incentives and rewards and just plain old fun for the entire family! Christopher is getting pretty good at bowling, Stephen and Daddy are playing baseball together. Timothy and I are challenging each other at tennis and bowling and we're all having loads of fun! After the boys went to bed, Fred and I played tennis together (he creamed me) and then bowling (I wooped him, as he said), both games several times. It will be sad to say goodby to this monthly gift of a Wii, but for now, we're just loving it!

And that is why we are having a Wii bit of fun right now!