I'm Worried About the Kids - Part 10 "Driving"

It's not news to anyone who regularly reads this blog (or my twitter stream) that I'm a big Nintendo fan. I have the Nintendo Power magazine subscription (causing my friend Tim to say, "What are you? Twelve?") and play our Gamecube, Wii, or one of FOUR DS systems as often as I get the chance.  For the record, I generally get the chance on a daily basis, at least for a few minutes.

Nintendo has great multi-player games and I love it when we have a chance to play the games together as a family.  Usually, however, I end up playing by myself in my unofficial household role as "unlocker of all the cool game stuff." It's my job to unlock all the features of the game so that when we DO get to play as a family, all the game options are available to us. Generally, if I want to play with other people, it has to be online. 

So, I was pretty surprised and excited last night when my daughter Rebecca agreed to play Mario Kart Wii with me.  She is at that age where she generally prefers to spend time alone, posting goofy self-portraits on Facebook!   We were playing for a while and eventually came to the level called "Koopa Cape."  A major feature of this level has you following a stream in your Kart, which eventually goes down a large waterfall into a pipe.

The pipe is a single pipe that gently changes direction SLIGHTLY as you are following the water through it.  There aren't any branches or choices on which way to go in the pipe...there is just a single entrance, a fairly long pipe that you follow, and an exit.

Seems pretty straightforward, right?

Rebecca got lost in the pipe.

I'm guessing that you probably had to read that last sentence a couple of times to make sure you got it right, didn't you?  That's why I left it all alone up there - to make it easier to for you to find!  For the most part, getting lost in that pipe is like getting lost in a toilet paper roll.  It's not easy!

At first, I thought she was joking when she said she couldn't get out of the pipe.  But then I took my eyes off the road for a moment to look at her portion of the screen, and by George she was right!  I had driven past her on my second lap around the course and didn't even notice her.  In fact, I passed her AGAIN on my third and final lap before she found her way out of the toilet paper roll...I mean pipe.

I'm worried about the kid.

This same girl will be driving in just a few years!  I should say that she will be eligible to drive. Right now the evidence is pointing in the direction that perhaps she should NOT drive.

To be fair, she DID do a bit better in the level named "Coconut Mall."  Malls are a more familiar environment for her, I guess.  I hope she doesn't get the idea that she can drive a car through the mall, though!

Comments

[Rebecca]

Dad. I didn't get "lost" in the pipe. Well I sort of did. It was more on the lines of the tube being slippery and I kept going to the ceiling, thus turning my cart around.

[Kim]

Ok, first I have to laugh that she corrected you in a comment! Classic!

Second, my oldest was the quintessential dingy blonde, and I used to worry about her getting lost while driving. However, once she got behind the wheel, her long-suppressed internal GPS started working, and she never had any problems with directions. She even drove in St. Louis and I didn't worry about her getting lost. I worried about other stuff, like Missouri drivers. :)

[Gregg]

I suppose I *could* take offense at that whole "Missouri Drivers" crack...except I drive on I-70 through downtown every single day and that stretch of road between the airport and downtown is astounding.

I tell Dianne that every day I survive the commute, a miracle has occurred!

[LisaS]

well, at least now there's GPS. I have one (male) friend who can't find his way home from the grocery store without it.

I won't mention the girl who ran through her parents' kitchen not once, not twice, but three times in high school. She has a PhD now ...

[Christy]

Coconut Mall is my favorite course.