My Parents Are Addicted To Video Games - How Did This Happen?

As a best-selling author and long-term supporter of literacy, not only am I an avid reader, but I am a person who enjoys recommending books I think my friends would enjoy. 

Though I love the feel and texture of bound books, I have come to also embrace the ease and accessibility of my e-readers (I have both an Amazon Kindle Fire and a Barnes & Noble Nook tablets).  This said, there is little I treasure more than my large and growing library collection of books.

My love of books and reading runs deep. I embrace the notion that a book is a free ticket to anywhere in the universe.  And so, as you may imagine, my life is filled with many adventures as I travel in the written words that my imagination fancifully embraces.

So over the past year, I thought that I would purchase my parents Kindle Fires.  At first I was unsure about getting my father a Kindle, but since my mother was an avid reader, I thought that she too would embrace the ease of using an e-reader as opposed to having to lug around her books.

With moderation in mind, I first purchased my mother a Kindle. 

And it was a giant hit.  My mother loves her Kindle.  She uses it to read, to check her email, to browse the news, and to sporadically connect with her friends on the social networks she belongs to.  She also loves doing something else with her Kindle . . .

Enter my father, who mind you, I purchased a Kindle after a short time of my mother receiving her Fire.  You see, it was only after about 3 weeks that my mother discovered that she enjoyed playing video games on her Kindle.

My father became curious, interested, and like my mother ... obsessed.

Seriously, my mother and father have become video game addicts.

Their primary game of choice?

Slotto Mania . . .

How bad is it?

Well, let me say this: every 2 or 4 hours  Slotto Mania gives away fictitious money to its players.  And if you miss the window to 'Collect Your Money', then you miss out on having additional money to play.   Now, fortunately, there is no real money involved, otherwise I would be real worried.

Nevertheless, my parents are very conscious to collect there money.  It's like they've become loan sharks making sure that the Kindle pays up . . .

So imagine, here are my two senior parents .... they're far from old .... and at midnight, one of them is up to make sure that they are collecting their Slotto Mania money.  Then, depending on if the 'Collect Your Money' notification is marked for 2 hours or 4 hours (it varies), the other one will be responsible for collecting their money at that time. 

Imagine you have the midnight shift, I'll take the 2 a.m. shift, and then you're on call for the 4 a.m. shift, etc.

Sure sounds like someone is taking care of  a newborn, but that can't be possible - my parents are or are approaching their 70's!

Now from what I understand, and what I have witnessed with my own eyes ... they play their video games for several hours during the day.  Now mind you, my parents are very active individuals ... I mean, very active.  Which makes it even that much more comical to know that during their downtime, they are playing video games.  And of course, getting up at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. sure seems a bit obsessive.

I could only imagine what any parent would say to their young child if this type of behavior was exhibited.  But its not like I can ground my parents to take their Kindle away. 

And like children who first discover the wonderment of video games, my parents are beginning to branch out. 

I'm just waiting to walk into their house and see them playing Call Of Duty or Assassins Creed. 

As for using Kindle for what I hoped would be an enriching experience of reading, well, on occasion a book I recommend does get downloaded.  Thank God!

But in their senior years, and with Christmas approaching, my only question is do I purchase them a PlayStation, a Wii, or an Xbox?  In our home, we have all three - each has their merits.

So in case you're wondering what I will be doing this Saturday, I will be shopping for a video console and some games for my . . . mother and father!

As my soon-to-be 97 year old spectacular grandmother Ida has said to me often throughout my life, "Life is to mysterious to take is serious and if you do it will make you delirious."

Happy Holidays my friends,

Peter

Preeminent 'Guilty Pleasures Book Review' Calls Peter Thomas Senese's Chasing The Cyclone "Phenomenal. Remarkable. Extraordinary."

I am so pleased to share the highly respected book review site  Guilty Pleasures Book Review commentary of Chasing The Cyclone.  

Guilty Pleasures Book Review in a preeminent online book review site 'Written By Women For Women'. 

This is what Guilty Pleasures Book Review had to say about Chasing The Cyclone:

"If I had to use one word to describe Chasing the Cyclone by Peter Thomas Senese it would be phenomenal. As in remarkable. Extraordinary. I have read many books over the years, for enjoyment, for education, because I had to, because I wanted to. I cannot think of any other book that comes close to making me feel as I did when I read this book. I believe these feelings will stick with me forever." Click Here to read the entire review.

Step by step the issues of international parental child abduction are increasing at a grass-roots level in our society. It is my hope and anticipation that as education and awareness gain traction, new laws and policies will be created and implemented that will help other children. After all, one child's life is worth fighting for - hundred's of thousands of children whose lives are at risk is worth changing a system over.

Click here to purchase Chasing The Cyclone from Amazon.

The New York Journal Of Books Calls Peter Thomas Senese's Chasing The Cyclone A Well-Written Thriller Readers Will Be Reluctant To Put Down

I am very pleased to share that the prestigious New York Journal of Books gave a terrific book review of Chasing The Cyclone.

From the New York Journal of Books On Peter Thomas Senese:

Best-selling author Peter Thomas Senese

Peter Thomas Senese is a bestselling author writing primarily in the historical fiction genre. He is actively engaged in combating crimes involving international child abduction and human trafficking by increasing the social dialogue around these issues, by providing useful and current resources for those affected by abduction and trafficking, and by participating in creating new laws that will protect all children—and their parents. All of the profits from the sale of Chasing the Cyclone will go to the I Care Foundation whose mission is to conduct research in the area of international parental child abduction.

From the New York Journal of Books on Peter Thomas Senese's Chasing The Cyclone:

Chasing The Cyclone by Peter Thomas Senese

Chasing the Cyclone is a well-written thriller. Senese shares myriad emotions as he weaves through the action in this suspense-filled story. This novel might also be considered a treatise on international child abduction. Cyclone, full of actual strategies and resources to assist parents in international abductions, is above all else a love story about a father and son. From Los Angeles to Canada to New Zealand and eventually China, Cyclone is rife with international intrigue and suspense. Filled with a plethora of powerful characters, puzzling predicaments, and dead ends, the story moves quickly . . . you will be reluctant to put it down.

Click Here to read the full book review and forwarding introduction of Peter Thomas Senese and the international legal thriller Chasing The Cyclone.

Click here to purchase Chasing The Cyclone on Amazon.

Click here to purchase Chasing The Cyclone at Barnes & Noble.