Tech Mami: Wii Are Family

Can I talk to you guys? Can I really share what’s going on right now? I hope I can because I consider you all family.  You know, kinda like the one you have at home but not with the greasy uncle that’s suspiciously never left alone with the children. Not that guy.  He’s not here in the ‘hood.  But I digress.

Fam, I wanted to be the perfect mami. I made most of my baby girl’s food. I nursed her til she was almost 16 months (and would’ve continued had she not refused my boob in a “I don’t do drugs” sorta way).  I (pretend to) let her only watch the 30 minutes of television that the American Academy of Pediatrics tells me is more than enough for her developing brain.

Certainly, I would NEVER introduce such a thing as a gaming console into this house, am I right? What kind of irresponsible, letting-my-child-watch-2-hours-of-Mickey-Mouse-Clubhouse parent would that make me if I did?

Well, I’m happy to say I didn’t.  Uncle Pete did! He’s not the greasy uncle so, don’t get all crazy on me.  He is the “I have used up an entire pack of wipes to clean off one poopy diaper” type of uncle.  The one that runs around the house while the frog princess squeals with joy.  The one that makes weird faces and noises that make his niece laugh and whose hugs she looks forward to.  But ya’ll, this fool bought my baby a Wii for Christmas!

I wanted to get on my “oh hell naw” soapbox but, truth of the matter is, I simply couldn’t.  Why you ask? Well, if I ever were to get my child a gaming console it would be the Wii.  When I think gaming console for the family, Wii just naturally comes to mind, don’t you think?

First, we got to create Mii’s which are pretty awesome.  You can select eye shapes, noses, hair style, skin complexion, you name it.  I do have a recommendation for the developers. Can you guys make boobs an option on the characters? And butts. Because there’s a slider on some of the options where you can make things bigger or smaller and that functionality could come in handy.  Please and thank you.

I love the fact that it’s not just something where the kids are zoned out in front of the television. One of the games we have is called Carnival Games and it’s so much fun trying to teach her how to throw a ball or shoot the ducks with a water gun.  She’s pretty good at it.  Me, on the other hand? Let’s just say that I need to stay up late at night with the TV on mute so that I can practice.  And, I cannot tell a lie, not only do I love the games but I love the fact that I can now get Netflix on the TV. For me, though. Because remember, she only watches the designated half hour a day and not the entire line up of ridiculously educational cartoons that Netflix Kids carries.

More than that, I love that when I start up the Wii, it’s the sign for the family to come together.  It feels like we are doing an activity.  Playing a video game while interacting with each other physically as opposed to just sitting next to one another pressing buttons or wielding a joystick (do kids nowadays know what a joystick is?).

And it doesn’t stop there. I got a box from my sister close to my birthday and in it was a Wii Fit Plus.  Let me tell you, this brings a whole different realm of “this is sooo awesome” to the mix.  Today (because it took me a week to unpack and then a week to remember to grab AA batteries while at the store) I finally got to use it. WOW!

I went through an assessment.  I was glad I was home alone.  It’s all quite official and all around neat. I got my BMI, my weight and I even found out that my Wii age is 34. Isn’t that wiidiculous? I was a little sad though because in my brain, I’m still 28.  Something to work towards, I guess.  Getting my Wii age down!

I look forward to training with my female trainer (developers, she needs a name.  Feel free to call her Sili since I came up with the bright idea).  I found out a lot of things about my body.  That I favor my left side for my center of gravity which I think makes sense since I normally carry the kid on my right hip.  I need to also lean forward a bit more for proper posture.  Again, I think that if mamis were all polled, they’d be having the same issues.  Developers, can you have a question up front asking “are you a mami?”. This way, when these little nuances come up, the trainer can say “hey! I see you have a kid you lug around all day long!”.  Again, just an idea.

I can’t imagine a family that wouldn’t want this handy dandy more-than-gaming console in their home.  It’s good for the kids and good for the grown ups.  I do have a confession to make. I’ve been putting off the dancing games. I love to dance but I know that once the frog princess sees one of these games, I won’t be needing the Wii Fit to get in shape as she’ll hold her very own version of dancing bootcamp right here in the living room (twice a day if I go by what happened when I was dumb enough to put in a DVD of Prima Ballerina).

Do you feel guilty about having a gaming console because you’re concerned about the creation of gaming zombies like I was?  I can tell you that having the Wii in this house has made me change my mind on letting kids play video games.  Uncle Pete, maybe you were on to something after all (shhh, don’t tell anyone I said that).

Now, you know you’ve been wanting to sing the song ever since you started reading so…hit it!

Wii ARE FAMILY…

*Disclosure: This post was created as part of a Stiletto Media campaign. I received the above product, free of charge, to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are those of reviewer only. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”