Take a Break from the Dual Screen

So Christmas has come and gone, and I'm felt with the feeling that I'm sure lots of teenage brides had once they get married. Kinda that.... Okay, that was cool, now what? I mean, it was a pretty good Christmas, twinkling with a bit of good news from my brother which I'm not entitled to divulge until he gives me the go ahead. Presents were handed out, and almost everyone got a damn good present or another. I myself got a Nintendo DS, which wasn't so much a surprise than a planned acquistion. I had rallied for the damn thing even since the subject of "What I wanted for Christmas" came up.

And my reason? Stellar. I love the DS. It's nothing like I've played before, and I'll gladly convince other people that the DS is much more fun than the PSP can conjure. The touch screen is mad genuis, and the games harken back to good old Nintendo 64 fun, but then some. I even got 6 games as gifts, so I'm foaming at the mouth. Okay, I did buy a few of the games myself, but nonetheless, those bubbles of happiness you see forming on the corners of my mouth are pure joy.

The boy and the girl got assorted kiddy toys, which I'm sure they're happy about in some form. The teenager got a laptop, though her three F's had better pick the F up or the laptop will be tested for its aerodynamic properties as it goes sailing out the window. My wife got a massager type chair which is probably a lot more fun to sit on, rather than against, but that's a different story. All and all, Christmas was a lot of fun for everyone, and no, we celebrated Christmas as a completely commerical and materialistic holiday. We were thinking about the economy, you know.

So anyway, the DS has limited my scope of vision to two screens, and the damn thing is immersive as hell. I love all my games, and I'm trying to like Nintendogs without shame, but when I say, "Dude. Sit Down." repeatedly and then get really proud and say, "Good boy" when he does, I can't help but feel slightly retarded, in an intentional way.

Well, enough of hardware.

Tonight I wagoned the kids to QFC for some corndogs, and as we wheeled past the now 2 days past Christmas Snowman and Santa displays, I felt a slight prang in my chest. I realized that now Christmas was over, but that wasn't the sad part. The sad part was that by next Christmas, my son will be 3 and my little girl will be 2. I felt quite sad by the thought that kids were growing so fast.

Oh, I would post photos of Christmas if I had them, but I took video instead. I don't know why. I was pretty dazed the whole day, honestly.