We're Famous!

Well, famous by association.  You can see me and my family in the latest episode of Penny Arcade TV.  Penny Arcade is a webcomic written by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.  We practically worship these guys because they are getting rich by doing what we love: playing video games and talking about them.  I actually won a contest by the ESRB to go to PAX East, meet Mike and Jerry and be DRAWN by Mike for the ESRB ads for 2010.  A COMPLETE DREAM COME TRUE.  That experience was absolutely magical.  We felt like VIPs for that whole weekend.  And to be able to share it with my husband and children was just icing on the cake. 
My winning contest entry can be found here.  The ESRB Facebook Contest was an essay contest where they asked "If your family was a video game, what would be your ESRB game rating?"  They also asked "How do you personally find the game rating system to be useful?" 
So please feel free to read my essay, to watch the video and to share my glory.  As I continue to get news of the esrb ads being drawn by Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade I will keep you updated!

We all have to start somewhere

I think we started out with DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). That was the first game that my son took interest in when we played it. And it was one of the few games that we owned that could be played in front of a toddler. Our son, Sean, had a favorite song (B4U) and LOVED to get up on the arcade version next to Daddy. When our daughter was born, Daddy would often dancedance her to sleep to the slower songs.

That's how it began.. ..

We've been very conscious of exposing our kids to video games and their content from the get-go. We use the ESRB guidelines to help us make decisions. We also use our own judgement. That's the benefit of being a Mommy who ALSO plays video games. I don't just SEE what my now 8 and 6 year olds play, I play WITH them.

And now I want to write about it.

I don't really know where to start. My plan is to just write everyday about how games or gamer culture has affected our family. I hope that its funny. I also hope to someday write about how our family is affecting the Gaming community. So I'm just going to PRESS START. Hopefully I'll eventually get readers and feedback and this blog will take on a shape. WISH ME LUCK!