The Captain and Tenille sang, “Love will keep us Together.” Now, love may have kept the Captain and Tenille together (actually, they recently announced they are divorcing), but something else was needed in my household.
The answer here in the MMK household is Minecraft. Yep, Minecraft is what is keeping my boys together. No joke, snide remark, or clever retort. I am thankful to those Swedish invertors for their best invention ever. Yeah, they can keep the Saab.
This past weekend SJ was screaming at the top of his lungs, “I hate my brother.” BR was laughing at SJ’s outburst. He could not care less.
My wife and I cringed.
I wish I could say it was the first time this ugliness has sprouted. It’s not. And it never gets easier to hear.
My wife and I have talked to the boys many times about how they need to be there for each other. They should be happy to spend time other. They should have each other’s back. Yes, my wife and I are like every other set of parents – we want our children to be friends.
Yet when the boys act like this, my wife and I are happy to have them apart. We try to remember that sibling rivalry is not unique at this age. We hope that they will grow out of it.
By the next morning, détente had occurred. Life had returned to our village, and all was good. And the reason for this peace was Minecraft. Plain and simple. The boys were side by side playing Minecraft on their Kindles. And they were talking. Here are some samples of the conversation that passed between my boys.
The zombie is chasing you. I have to kill it.
I don’t want your gold. I gave it to you as a gift.
Thanks for the dirt.
Fine, you can take the raw chicken.
I’ll build us a house. I need more clay.
Now, that might sound weird to you (well, that is unless your child is one of the millions that is also addicted to Minecraft). However, to me these are words of love. In fact, I hear those words we love each other, we will always be friends, we will take care of our parents when they get old.
Whoops! How did that last line get in there?
I know, I know some might say that this is a false peace. It’s dependent on a video game being played on a Kindle. I beg to differ. Sure they are not talking about feelings and offering up support. They are not encouraging and dreaming together.
However, my boys are playing together. They are enjoying spending time together. They choose to play Minecraft Survival mode (I had to ask multiple times till I remembered that) which involves both of them. They are happy in each other’s company.
For that, I am ecstatic.
Minecraft has brought my boys together.