What Cruising Kids do... when stuck in a marina (Saturday - March 6, 2010)

We have been asked by several people what our kids do when other kids aren't around. When we are anchored out and there are no other children about,  the kids are busy beachcombing, snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, hiking, etc... They start their typical day doing their school work plus chores and then it's off to explore. Here at the marina it is very different.

Most of the month of January and all of February, there have been very few cruising kids in Mazatlan. Most of the cruisers are doing just that... cruising... not stuck in a marina making repairs to their boats like we are. So, in the marina our kids start their day doing school work... same old, same old. Chores are also done in the morning. But during the day it is very dull for Tim and Carolyne with no other kids to play with. So what do we do? We allow them to do what they don't get to do when we're at anchor... they get to play computer games!

Although Jim doesn't have a problem with computer games at all it drives me absolutely nuts... these computer games are something I abhor... a waste of time and no physical activity... dumb... aggressive and shallow... fake and addictive... exactly what good can come of it?

Well, we're trying to get out of this marina, but we can't until we get a number of projects completed on  the boat. Imagine trying to do a project on the boat with the kids asking a million questions, or suddenly they are hungry, or the bickering begins, or the little one has an owie, or the big one can't find his sunglasses, or there is hovering, and trying to explain what you're doing or trying to get them involved in helping with the project you're in the middle of doing creates more work for you and you need to get this done before you have to start dinner... (breathe!)... my solution? Go play... computer games!!!

So, for anyone who thinks that we are ruining our children by taking them out of the norm and subjecting them to an alternative lifestyle... have faith! They are enjoying the Technical Age with enthusiasm and vigor while at Marina Mazatlan. I even find myself looking forward to the time in the afternoon when they will leave to go to the cruiser's lounge with the computer in tote and I can get some work done.  So, I have found a little something that is positive in this computer crazed generation that we've created... and I'm happy and they're happy. And, I don't feel guilty one bit because I'm pretty sure that both my kids are building stronger muscles... in their fingers. And it's all just temporary... we're going to be out of the marina eventually and the computer games will be replaced with the things I love to see my children doing. That I know to be true.