Game Over: Mom’s Passed Out
I think I’ve discovered a new sleep disorder: game narcolepsy. Like classic narcolepsy, symptoms may include excessive sleepiness, cataplexy (loss of muscle control), and microsleep (very brief moments of sleep during which the narcoleptic will continue to function but have no memory of it upon waking). The trigger factor here, though, is quite specific: engaging in game play with people under the age of 10.
There has to be a neurological explanation for this. Put a game in front of me, day or night, and within a few minutes, I begin to experience a numbing sensation. My eyes grow unbearably heavy. My thoughts slide toward the Aboriginal dreamtime. I’m quite sure I’ve even continued to participate, tossing down my Angel Fish card or rolling the Piranha dice, while technically unconscious. I remember this also happening once or twice while reading comic books to my son when he was very young, but I resolved that issue by banning comics from our read aloud options. They simply did me in every time.
Games, however, are not so easily dismissed. My kids are reaching a point where our shared activity options for indoor play are limited. They’re too big to stack blocks, too rowdy for extended chase and tickle play, too young for complicated science or craft sets. I’m sure they’d play Wii until they were the ones passing out on their feet, but I refuse to have one in my house. With an age difference of four years as well as their gender split, finding something we can all do together is challenging.
So we play games which, contrary to my unfortunate physical reaction, I really love. We play card games like Ruckus (a rousing family favorite), Go Fish, and sometimes even poker when Dad has to time to deal and coach us on the rules of five-card draw and seven-card stud. We play board games like Guess Who, Blockus, and Fantastic Four vs. Dr. Doom. Sometimes we settle down with Legos or Magnetix (which usually keeps me awake as I spend the whole time panicking about the ingestion of magnetic bits) or Zoob.
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