Yes, like many families, we own a wii. Funny enough it was a birthday present for myself. haha We got the Wii Fit with it. That makes it for me. *g* 
My husband and I have been video game geeks for the better part of our lives. Between the two of us, we’ve owned an Atari, Intelivision, Nintendo, Nintendo64, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PS1, Gamecube and now the Wii. Our children have played with most of these systems and several are hooked up and in working order at this very moment. Oh yes, and they have the v-smile. No handheld gaming devices. (because that would just be too much. ha)
Like every other game system, the kids love to play the Wii and have mastered it. And just like every other game system, the Wii often becomes such a focal point for the kids that it becomes an idol. It causes bad attitudes, anger, bitterness, rudeness and nine kinds of other hateful things to spew out of my otherwise decently kind children. I hate this. We’ve had such a battle over this issue; taking away video games for weeks at a time because things just got so unpleasant. I am just completely frustrated and exhausted over the whole mess.
With four kids in the house, one of the main sources of discontent is who gets to play the Wii first. If you give each one an individual play time, that’s a lot of Wii time for one day!!! Another major battle is bad attitudes when school and chores come first. (which they always do!) Regardless of knowing that schoolwork and chores must be done in order to have recreation time, they still complain and moan over these things.
Does anyone else struggle with issue? Have you come up with any solutions to these problems? I’d love to hear them. We’ve recently implemented a new schedule where four days a week one child gets Wii time and one gets Gamecube time. Two days a week there is no video game time and on Saturday we can have Wii time as a family if we have nothing else going on. Oh, and NO Wii during the day. Period. Just in the evening after dad is home. So far, I like the system. It’s helped take some of the stress off of myself.
While I like this alot, it still does not change their attitudes. They are still mopey and complainy. I know this is a heart issue and it must be dealt with as such, but I’m struggling with how to lead them in this area. I have one child in particular who really struggles with anger and I have such a hard time dealing with him. I don’t yell or anything, I just oftentimes don’t know what to say or do to help him diffuse his anger and see the error of it. Taking away privileges often only increases the anger. There must be a better way.
Any advice?
Sara O’
We had the attitude problem with the computer. When they were on the computer, and I told them their time was up, it took them for-e-ver to get logged out of whatever site they were on (mostly Webkinz or Build-A-Bear). It really caused a problem on Wednesdays because they wanted to play before mid-week church activities that night, and I struggled getting them to do their school work well – they were rushing to just get through and would often be impatient with me if I was reading something or trying to explain something they were doing wrong.
Soooooooo, I made the rule that they can only get 1 hour of "screen time" (that includes TV, computer, Wii – anything with a screen) during the week, and they only were allowed computer time on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We are a little more lax in the Summer, but that's the way it is during school months.
OK, so this is what we do–First, the boys have to be completely finished with all their schoolwork with 86% accuracy or better before they can play the Wii or get on the computer. Secondly, each boys has two days a week that are Mommy's days. What that means is, they are my helpers if I need something, they help with meals, they get to get the mail (for some reason, that was a source of fighting at my house because they all love to get the mail), sit by me when we are reading or if we go someplace, sit in the front seat of the car…..you get the idea. It also works for the Wii and computer.. they get first pick. If they are finished with their work, they get first pick of which electronic they want to pick AND what game goes in if it is a multi player game. We have done this for years and it works beautifully. They just know their days, the others respect their decisions, and we have way less fighting. Sundays is Mom's day and I get to choose if they can't agree on whatever the issue is.
Hope this helps. BTW, I actually know you from TOPC way back when 🙂
Huh, I never thought about this. We don't have any game systems. If we had one, though, it would be the Wii because it's the coolest!