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I HATE Yu-Gi-Oh!

My kid's new obsession is giving me a headache.

Thanks to Sherry Belul

My son walks around the house speaking another language. I don't understand a word of what he's saying, and, more over, I don't care!

I loved it when his preschool teachers were teaching him Spanish. It was fun when the kindergarten class learned how to count in Mandarin. But what he's speaking now I hate, hate, hate!

It's Yu-Gi-Oh! And it sounds like this: "Awesome! Do you know the blue-eyed Double Dragon has 6,000 defense points and if I use it with a trap card, it can send any Gyroid or Jetroid to the graveyard if it is played right-side-up after my opponent plays the Ancient Gear Explosive spell card?!"

Huh? I look at him and he's wild-eyed with excitement. He's pacing the hall, shuffling through a thick deck of cards, just one of many such decks he owns. Yu-Gi-Oh! I even hate the name. I can never remember how to spell it. Yu-Gi-Oh! It's 40 cards for $14.99 and each pack acquired only increases the need for more cards: "Cool. I got the Chain Thrasher but now I need the Ancient Gear Explosive spell card to activate it!" Yu-Gi-Oh! are futuristic monster cards that attack and destroy other violent-looking cards. The print at the bottom of each card is so incredibly tiny that I need a NASA-level microscope to read the activation-effect instructions. And then, when I finally do read them to my son, they sound as if they were originally written in Japanese, translated to Swahili, converted to Albanian and finally translated into English… by a 7-year old. "By tributing this card until the end of this turn, any effect damage inflicted to the controller of the card is zero." Yu-Gi-Oh! keeps my son locked away in his room for hours, murmuring "destroy, graveyard, dark forces." When I ask him to play Monopoly, Junior Scrabble or Frisbee, he says, "Aw, Mom, won't you duel Yu-Gi-Oh! with me?"

I wanted him to do yoga with me. I wanted him to do acrobatics. I want him to go to the theater, hear music, take long hikes in Muir Woods, climb trees, ride the carousel. I'm scared he's going to turn into a pale, skinny, geeky boy who awkwardly stumbles through conversations with schoolmates and walks into telephone poles because he's always looking down—at his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

I don't wanna play! I'm not interested. I don't care. I haven't given up dragging him to museums and kids' concerts and playgrounds, but does that mean I have to take part in his interests, too? To be a good mom, do I need to learn to duel?

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thenyru
thenyru
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1/21/2010 - 5:17AM
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Well as for every relationship there has to be give and take, to receive something, wanting him to share an interest with you, you much first give, learn to share an interest with him. The fact that playing these strategic games help to improve intelligence and they are also very good at helping with basic maths as it is all a numbers game. The game, films or TV shows don't promote any violence, in fact it does the opposite as it shows how your differences can be settled a different way, by a duel in this case. I think this card game should be encouraged. If many children in the area play the game maybe even start a group or something, that way they get to socialize with others and you wont have to spend as much money as they can trade for cards they want and you wont have to buy them. At the end of the day it is just a passing trend so you may as well support him in his choices as it is that support which will last.
Mama_Cain
Mama_Cain
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1/7/2009 - 10:39PM
Report Abuse 		I don't mind the card games, but don't get the video, which my son convinced me to get him a few years back (he's 11 now and has moved on from this) and I just remember the endless talking...ug! But yeah, we went through that...and it was fun seeing him so excited about something...now it's video games. Bore.
Axl_Low
Axl_Low
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1/7/2009 - 9:47PM
Report Abuse 		I think you might be twisting this into something it's not. Do you remember when Pokemon cards were popular? It's not much different. True, there are some cards that look a bit violent, but there are also those that are just little fluffballs, like the Kuriboh. When my son first began playing, he wanted me to play with him. I wasn't much interested in it, but I humored him. He wants you to play with him so he might be able to have some common interests or just have fun with you playing a game he likes. And you can't really blame him for not wanting to go to museums. Did you really have any interest in them at all when you were his age? Back on topic... Even after a while, my daughter found some cards she liked and began playing with him. If you think about it, it's actually good for him. Him being able to find cards that work well together and being able to have the foresight to manipulate his strategy to fit into different situations teaches him how to plan well. You don't need to learn to play if you really don't want to, but just humor him for now and don't completely bash what he likes simply because you don't.
john100198
john100198
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11/4/2008 - 8:42PM
Report Abuse 		hey. i play yugioh. i can see where your son is coming from. basiclly, yugioh is a kind of chess with customizable pieces. he's actually using his brain for stratagy and his creativity to find "card combos" or cards that work together. he's excited about using his brain! how often do kids do that? when he tells you about it, he's showing he cares about you enough to include.there is a reason he's so excited. there are so many combonations, when you find one that works, it's like a gift from the heavens. about the spending, if it's his money, then it's money to do with as he sees fit. if it's your money, let him work for it. let him do weekly chores. allow him to earn up to about 5-7 dollars a week. if he likes yugioh as much as you say, he will do the chores. when he ask you to play, just do what my mom does. say "it's too complicated for an old girl like me." no matter how old you are, it will work. you should take him to some local tournaments to get it out of his system. they have a leauge called dragon dueling for kids ages 12 and younger. it would be good for him. you can learn about that here http://entertainment.uppe... hope you take these thoughts into consideration, and tell him i said good luck!
Arneson08
Arneson08
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10/20/2008 - 1:42AM
Report Abuse 		Hello, My son plays Yu-Gi-Oh as well, I tend not to try to interfere with what he wants because its not really our choice to lead them away from what they will become. Sure, I show my kid some new things such as sports and music but I allow him to decide what he enjoys. I've seen even highschool students play this card game, and they dont look like complete geeks, hell one of them is on the football team. What im trying to say is that your son my love Yugioh, but it wont change who he is completely. He'll have other interest and favorite things and all you can do as a good mother is to show him new things and let him decide what he likes.


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