It started off innocently enough. I was enjoying a mid-summer trip to the dentist’s office with my kids. (By “enjoying,” I mean I was dripping sweat while sprinting between three dental chairs with a baby on one hip while my preschooler destroyed a potted plant in the waiting area, all the while reconsidering all my life choices that led up to me thinking that scheduling five kids for back-to-back dental appointments was a smart idea. It was fun.)
As I skidded into the room where my oldest son was being examined, I caught wind of the conversation.
Young Dentist Who My Kids Consider To Be A Super Cool Guy: So, do you play Fortnite?
My 12-Year-Old: Nahhhyahhh-Cahhpay-Fuhhh-Maaaa-Fooooh?
Young Dentist Who My Kids Consider To Be A Super Cool Guy: Yeah, you can totally play it from your phone. It’s fun — I play in a squad with my friends. You’ve gotta ask your mom though.
My 12-Year-Old: Ahh-Wihhh, AhhWahhhhNahhhh (glancing over at me with pleading eyes and drool dripping down chin).
And then it began.
I did all the “mom” things. I made sure my kids knew they could only chat in the game with kids they actually knew in real life. They knew the sound had to remain on at all times so I could hear what they were talking about. I outlined time limits for how long I would allow them to play each day, plus rules about eliminating video games entirely if their grades in school started to dip.
And I relented.
Within days, my children spoke about nothing but pick-axes and Battle Buses. They begged for V-Bucks to buy weapons for Battle Royale. At any given moment, cups on the counter were in danger of being flung to the floor in a frenzy of best mates, orange justice, and flossing. When I kicked them out of the house to play outside, they formed a live-action, Fortnite-style chasing game with the neighbor kids.
Even when they weren’t playing the game, it was all they could think about. They were addicted to Fortnite.
Talking to other moms about it, I found that Fortnite addiction isn’t limited to my own house. It’s running rampant in the tween-age set.
Am I worried?
Well, in all honesty? Not really. I remember being obsessive about things when I was that age (hello, New Kids On The Block). We are doing our best to protect them from dangerous situations by setting up safeguards and monitoring their game time. As long as their schoolwork is getting done and they are still participating in their normal activities, I will accept that many of our conversations will center around their gaming strategy. When they start to fixate on it too much, I gently encourage them to branch out with their interests, and it is working for us. As the months have passed, their obsession has begun to fade slightly.
We are just over here, riding out the Fortnite wave.
I do have to admit, I enjoy that the Fortnite phase has caused some pretty epic family dance parties.
Though, I do plan to tell our dentist to stick to the other kind of flossing at our next visit. (Err…visitS. We won’t be having a five-for-one deal again.)
