My son is 7 and has collected Pokémon cards for about a year. Apparently there is an actual game that can be played with the cards. I know this because he has attempted to teach me. There are times when he talks to me about Pokémon that my eyes literally glaze over and I go into a comatose state. When I wake up three hours later he is still yammering on and on about 'Chariturds' and 'Pikabutts' and 'Magicraps'...or something like that...ANYWAY...
He got really excited about this new game this summer called Pokémon Go...maybe you've heard of it (cough...cough...). If you haven't heard of it let me explain. It's an app that you can put on your phone. It pairs with GPS and allows Pokémon to appear in your real world environment. You get to catch them with things called Pokeballs (insert the ONE THOUSAND jokes we have said about balls here...go on...I'll wait.....) and collect them in your Pokedex (a little spot where they all hang out in your phone so you know what you've caught).
My son was instantly in love with this game. He now asks to go on walks with my phone and um...me... to hunt these little guys. We've gotten to know the hot spots near our house and it has been used as bribery AND mother-son bonding time. From there it kind of evolved into me turning on the app when I was out and about to see what kind of new Pokemon were around. I found that Pokémon like to hang out at the grocery store, at my gym AND this great little place with an amazing happy hour. This is where I began to investigate what wine pairs best with Pokémon. I'm still in the research stage....anything for the kids!
This has become something my son and I can talk and get excited about. He thinks it is cool when a new guy shows up in the Pokedex. We get to roll our eyes together about how many lame Pidgeys and Rattata are always in our driveway. I mean seriously....how many of those things can one Pokedex hold?? You know?!? (you don't?....damn....look away people LOOK AWAY!)
If your kiddo is already into this game, try to get involved. It's FAR LESS painful than the card game...trust me. It gets you out of the daily grind and creates opportunities to have all kinds of conversations with your little miracle. I hate to admit it parents....but I'm a fan of this game. Now get out there and grab your balls and catch some Pokémon......(you know what I mean...)
Like this post? Natalie is part of the amazing trio behind the award winning book series, It's Really 10 Months: Delivering the truth about the glow of pregnancy and other blatant lies.
Original version posted on It's Really 10 Months