Going to be an odd week. I've got a week off work as of Saturday..but I've got to get to Saturday first and that's the real trial. Also got my daughters first 'proper' birthday party, which is making me more anxious than it really should. So much to plan, so little time.
You spend more time with your parents than I spend with myself. If I'm lucky I get 2 hours in the evening where I'm not working, and not parenting.
If I'm lucky I'll see my folks once a month for an hour or two. They're busy. I'm busy, and when you have kids, your parents stop being your 'primary family'. If they want to come over and take the kids out then fantastic; gives me a bit of a breather but I'm also not seeing them during that time either.
Used to be a yearly guy. Then I moved out and yeah, suddenly that wasn't a thing anymore. Got into a decent habit of only upgrading every two years, and now I try to make the phones last me three years if possible.
I think if I looked at my life then Vs now I'd probably argue that I was "happier". My life was pretty easy, I had ultimated free time and no one to worry about but myself.
Fifteen years later and that's not the case, I've got two young kids who really take it out of me, barely enough money to make ends meet and we're further away from owning a home than ever. I'm more burnt out, more stressed, more worried.....and yet I'd still argue that my life is better now than it was then. Happier no, but I think my life is in some ways more...full than it was before.
Now don't get me wrong, I may yet go back to it. What I've read though.....isn't exactly selling it. Celeste level platforming and a bucket load of boss fights that are significantly harder than what I faced in the main story....
Im a sucker for those hard games, I've beaten Cuphead twice, finished Sekiro and Elden Ring....but I'm not sure I want the same things from Hollow Knight you know?
I've literally only played five minutes (baby woke up) so I can't really say too much yet. I'm absolutely awful at poker, so I'm not expecting all that much, but .... maybe this is the game that changes that.
So I started (and finished...ish) Hollow Knight. I got the first ending and I was planning on going back for the true ending but now I'm a little out of it, I'm actually not sure I want to go back in and experience the game at its most difficult. I had a real good time, but the difficulty spike is supposed to be pretty huge and that's not why I went to that game.
Also been playing Death Must Die which is a Hades-meets-Vampire-Survivor game. It's in early access but it's absolutely hitting the right spot. I'm probably going to jump off for now though, I don't want to exhaust my time with the game before it's out.
Finally, I've just picked up the poker game that everyone is currently playing (I can't remember the name) called Baletro....maybe
And Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors because apparently I like these Auto-shooter things.
I'm not actually sure where they plucked the 'quarter' figure from because unless it's hidden somewhere else the article actually says that '90% of teachers said they had atleast one student in their class who wasn't toilet trained'.
That's a big jump from one in every four kids.
As for the rest of the article, I think it's incredibly easy to blame parents, and whilst I'm certain lazy parenting is a factor here, I think we also need to step back and look at the world right now.
COVID caused mayhem for many new parents; my child alone basically didn't socialise between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. And at that age, kids being around other kids is absolutely essential for their development.
Parents are also working longer hours than ever, and money is tighter than it's ever been. Whilst these don't get parents off the hook, the idea that the blame lays entirely on parents is a touch shortsighted.
Access to affordable and accessible childcare would go an awful long way to alleviating some of these issues, but again, there's no silver bullet and no one group is responsible for all of this. Parents need to be better for sure, but society does a terrible job of setting them up for success.
Anything that goes over my eyes is going to be a negative for me, and I'd assume many others. The second you take away my ability to see what's going on in and around me it becomes a difficult sell. Same with VR.
The Deck/Switch/whatever allows me to play my games on the on the sofa whilst my kids watch TV/run around. It allows me to play whilst my family is around me, which is important because if I'm going to essentially lock myself away, I'm just not going to want to play. Which was VRs issue.
Not to mention if you want to play in a public space, on a bus or a train. I can't imagine ever being comfortable with something that robs me of my ability to see what's going on in that scenario.
As a parent I'm not opposed to this. My child gets 6/7/8 weeks off and it's going to be an absolute nightmare to sort out childcare when her youngest brother is also at school (currently my partner is off work on the days I work so it's not an issue).
Both sets of grandparents work and we're not really in a position to pay for childcare or any of those holiday clubs. Not to mention that after 4 weeks the kids are bored out of their minds.
Much prefer the shorter and longer half term breaks.
Going to be an odd week. I've got a week off work as of Saturday..but I've got to get to Saturday first and that's the real trial. Also got my daughters first 'proper' birthday party, which is making me more anxious than it really should. So much to plan, so little time.