Bridging the Gap

One year ago at Christmas time I bought a copy of World of Warcraft for my college-age son. His friends at school were all playing, and being a videogame buff he wanted to try for himself. He created a human warrior on Mug'thol and started playing. I frequently came in and watched him play, and decided it looked like so much fun I would create a character for myself. I created a separate account and created a human paladin for myself. We quested together and had a grand time!

By the time we had leveled these characters to 60 and had gotten Burning Crusade we decided to try a walk on the "bad" side and create Horde characters on another realm. Thus, Merculian and Cellinda were born. Once again we fought and quested and leveled together, this time with the help of some of Jacob's school friends who were on Cenarion Circle with us. As time progressed and we continued to play, my younger son and my husband became intrigued by our conversations and also made characters for themselves.

World of Warcraft has now become a family activity for us, with each of us helping the others. The best part of this is the lines of communication it has opened for my husband and me with our teenager and young adult. It has given us a common frame of reference and a way for our children to feel more "equal" to us. Our relationships have improved and the kids now feel free to talk about problems, both in and out of Azeroth, with us.

Thanks Blizzard Entertainment for giving me a way to bridge the generation gap and for helping my kids see me not only as Mom but as a person, in the same way that I can now view them as developing adults and not just my children.