Game addiction

The last day of school for the 2006 - 2007 school year has come and gone. I will never again have all four of my children in the public school system at once. For better or for worse.... I am actually finished with the wretched kindgergarten schedule as well. What will next year bring? The entire day to myself each weekday?! I can get used to that. I remember when I could hardly stand to be at home during the day, and when even the thought of being alone would scare me. (The reasons for my homeschooling decision are more and more obvious now, aren't they? lol) So sad to see myself becoming more reclusive as the years roll on.

To tell the truth, the thought of being alone now actually brings peace, and a smile to my face. Sudoku and me for hours on end. No arguing, no gloating about who wins and who doesn't (and it is usually Sudoku doing the winning), no talking back, no questioning my decisions of where to put which number. I do hear Sudoku calling me at times, but it is with a very soft voice, and it is not demanding. Just a whisper beckoning me for "just a bit of time". I must admit that I answer that call more cheerfully than I answer the oft heard "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmmm" ringing through the house at a good 100 decibles.

I rationalize the time spent with Sudoku by saying that it is my way of staving off Alzheimers. Food for the brain, I claim. Who could have known that the first nine numbers of our counting system could become such close friends of mine. I know them by heart, and I can recognize which one is missing as if they were my children. While sitting patiently upon "the throne", I see Sudoku grids in the tiles on the bathroom floors in restaurants - which, I'll admit, is better than reading "Briggs" around the little drain forwards and backwards over and over again. I take my automated Sudoku game with me to church in hopes that it's black color and small rectangle shape won't give away my addiction, and might even make people think I am looking up scriptures on my Palm!

It is sick, isn't it? There is no need for a support group for this kind of addiction. People will readily admit they too are die hards. When a chance meeting with a stranger uncovers a fellow addict, we just smile, nod knowingly, and with an understanding smirk we pat ourselves on the back. Addicts we may be, but we are intellectual addicts... and that makes it all ok.