Three months ago my kids discovered the Pokemon shows on Netflix and went on a kick where that was the only show they wanted to watch for weeks! Just in time, the book fair arrived at my daughter’s school and what did she buy? A Pokemon book! Here we are three months later and it’s a huge interest to both my 8 year old daughter and my 5 year old son. As soon as I started hearing about Pokemon GO, I knew I was going to have to check it out and let the kids get involved.
On their last visit with their Dad, they were introduced to the game and came home asking to download ‘a new game’ on my phone. I knew what it was going to be and they were thrilled that I already planned on downloading it for them. Unfortunately for them, I was a bit immobile over the weekend due to severe sciatic nerve pain (thanks a lot baby!) so I haven’t been able to take them out and about – yet. They have collected all of the ones in our neighborhood. Once they’re home from a visit with their grandparents they’ll be excited to do some exploring outside of our neighborhood.
I LOVE seeing my kids excited about new things. While I’m totally okay with game time, I don’t let them sit in front of the TV or cell phones all day long. The Pokemon GO game is just an added bonus game that they’re playing WHILE enjoying the outdoors on these summer days that are disappearing a lot quicker than I like. While I’ve been out and about it’s put a smile on my face to see people walking around town obviously hunting their Pokemon. What I don’t get, is all of the negativity being shared around Facebook.
I keep seeing statuses or memes talking about Pokemon GO players needing to get jobs or get their faces away from their phone screens. I know a lot of responsible adults who work AND enjoy the game with their friends and children. It’s okay to have a little fun in your life and if a popular activity doesn’t fit your idea of fun or proper lifestyle choice, ignore it and move on. At least with this game, people are going OUTSIDE, getting extra exercise and fresh air, meeting new people, genuinely enjoying themselves. They could be doing much worse things and you don’t know how the activity with this game is helping them on a personal level. If they’re not hurting anyone (themselves included) or ignoring responsibilities, let them have their fun.
Im debating putting this game on my phone. I have 2 boys that love pokemon because their older cousin did. I don’t like them using my phone because of data use but I think they would love it. The only time I would let them play is with me so I could monitor.