Lending Mom a Helping Hand

You won't believe who has been giving me some help with the kids lately? Thomas the Train. Let me say right off the bat that I don't exactly understand the Thomas the Train fascination that my kids seem to have. But, who am I to judge -- I like a lot of weird things too.

I had the chance to check out a new Thomas the Train computer game called "Special Delivery." I couldn't pass the opportunity up because I knew that Ellie and Brendan would love to try it out.

Boy, was I right. Ellie is able to navigate the whole game entirely by herself (frankly she is pretty good at the parts that I found slightly confusing). I don't mean to sound like an old person, but I can't believe how good young kids are with computers. Brendan stares at the screen while Ellie plays, captivated by the impressive graphics and shouting "There's Thomas" every time he appears.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not advocating plopping kids down in front of the computer to play games for hours. But as all busy Moms know, sometimes kids need to play independently while you make dinner, clean up, work, etc. And I think that a half an hour playing a computer game that teaches spacial and math skills beats watching some totally mindless cartoon.

So thanks Thomas. We are glad to have you.