Then the years go on, the kid becomes an adult and begins cooking for themselves. The first meal they make for someone else they realize (1) how difficult it is to estimate when a meal will be done (2) how much work goes into cooking, especially for a whole family and (3) how hurtful and disruptive it is when the person you’re cooking for decides they’d rather eat your food when it’s cold and gross and everyone else has already finished eating and are trying to clean up. And that’s not even incorporating the social elements of family dinner time the kid is eschewing. I didn’t understand as a kid why my parents were so adamant about family dinner, but as an adult it’s something I’m really glad they enforced.
You’re right, but also remember to say it out loud.
Communication is so underrated but I guarantee most people would listen and be willing to accommodate you more if you just bring it up casually, instead of waiting until they discover it for themselves or until you blow up from being frustrated and underappreciated
Say it with us, folks: USE YOUR WORDS
GET OUT OF YOUR ROOM AND EAT.
IF YOU DECIDE TO NOT EAT WITH EVERYONE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN DISHES.
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT JUST AN ENTIRE HEAD OF LETTUCE FOR DINNER.
YOU CANNOT EAT DRY RAMEN WITH NO SEASONING FOR DINNER.
YOU CANNOT EAT JUST GREEN BEANS FOR DINNER.
YOU CANNOT SKIP DINNER THEN EAT NOTHING BUT JUNK FOOD AT MIDNIGHT WHEN EVERYONE GOES TO BED.
Repeated ad nauseum for half a decade.
I’ve cooked for others at home before. I do not care what they do after the meal is ready.
Yeah well there’s cooking as in purely functional preparation of nutrients, and then there’s cooking as in a process of caring for others by creating a worthwhile experience of food that is needed, engaging, and delicious. The downside is this experience usually has a time limit dependent on time and others’ availability (eating hot food together). It’s sad for such effort to go to waste. The alternative extreme to this kind of nurturing is abandoning the idea that family time over meals is worthwhile and just shitting out nutrient bricks so the children don’t starve. I don’t think anyone really wins in the long run with that.
Exactly! When you’re a teenager it’s hard to appreciate these things. I know I definitely took it for granted but I at least respected my family enough to not start an online game around dinner time.
Bro, Fortnite will still be there when you’re done eating with your family.
I play ranked bedwars.
And you know when your family has dinner time, no?
I am not the bro you’re speaking to, but I am a parent. Dinner is sometimes at 5:15 and other days it’s at 6:45. It just depends on everyone’s schedules. So don’t assume that a random bro on the internet knows when dinner is.
I have yet to visit a household with strict dinner times, I know they probably exist but usually it’s a very flexible time
We had one when I was a kid, but we don’t hold to one in my family now. In fact, our daughter is really picky and won’t eat the same things we do. We generally eat when she feels like eating because it’s just easier. Of course, these days she’s a teenager and she always feels like eating.
Your daughter actually gets a choice in what she wants to eat?
If she doesn’t like what you make her, she simply won’t eat it. She will just live without dinner. So we have to make her what she wants. This has been true since she was a baby. We’ve finally at least gotten to the point that she’s willing to try new things.
you also broke the rules as a kid calm down.
and if you didn’t you’re a bitch so kind of a double edge sword for you.
Yeah, I broke the rules, but never when it came to eating.
Did you run though a field of wheat like Theresa May?
At least offline games can be saved anytime nowadays. I remember so many screaming matches with my parents having to explain that I need to find a save point first.
I looooove that I can save my game in BG3 at basically any time, and I love even more that I can walk away from the game for a minute, even mid-combat, to do something.
The first handheld that shipped with the ability to suspend was a gamechanger for me as a kid
Me when My Summer Car:
Mom: I told you 20 minutes a go to get down here. You: It’s the same match. Mom: The matches have a time limit of 5 minutes.
Lol yep gamer parents know all the tricks. We came up with them.
Oh I’m actually playing age of empires 2 black forest tonight.
Starts a forest nothing game
On turbo?..
On turbo right?
Forest Nothing…
Slow…
Huns/Turks only (no onager)
Honestly, still your fault for starting that mess before dinner
How was i supposed to know 1v1 vikings only on HD patch was gonna take so long???
The people who grew up having to explain games that don’t pause are old and have kids now.
It’s just a pity he’s too young for Disco Elysium. Oh well, at least he’s enjoying Chrono Trigger.
People who have kids now are old?
You haven’t lived long yet, have you? 🙂
Gatekeeping oldness: the surest sign of someone worth talking to
You’re not allowed to feel “old” until you hit 150 years. Then maybe you can start thinking about retiring.
Damn youngsters complaining about their hips and brains at the ripe age of 75. I pity the coming generation.
Real old people have no pity for the young. Get your own planet to ruin, kiddo! 💪👴
I have a kid. I sure feel old these days.
lol, and the kid starts a new match anyway.
Games need a ‘this is the last match for me’ switch. The number of times I’ve reflexively requeued (or been auto requeued) when I meant to do something else is a large number.
Yeah, ditto…“Ok, just one more match…”
How old is your mom, 80? People in their 40s and 50s played Atari and are pretty familiar with video games. This joke is dying quickly.
Although that is true, they might not be as familiar with the concept of online multiplayer games, which rose in popularity much later. The odds of someone’s parents having played, for example, Quake or Unreal Tournament in their childhoods are considerably lower.
Quake was released in 1996, 27 years ago. College students likely played Quake at the time.
“Mom” likely knows her shit.
Am a 41 year old dad who grew up with Quake, Doom, and Unreal Tournament, and now have a 12 year old son who is also growing up on games. The boomers who didn’t have a clue are dying. Those were OUR parents who didn’t know diddly squat about gaming, not this generation’s parents.
Well, in your bubble maybe. I can assure you the majority of people your age barely grasp the concept of the internet, let alone online gaming. Same goes for people in their 20s. It’s like cars for many people. Sure, they know very well how to use them, but have no idea about what other people do with their cars, like racing or off-roading. They might have some rough idea of what it probably is, but no clue about all the intricacies.
Nowadays most people use the internet, but that doesn’t mean they understand the pain when someone leaves your online match. Not everybody is playing online games, let alone online games where a leaving teammate actually matters.
I think you are right. There are many people in their 40s who grew up with online games, my father included :). Although I am still fairly certain that online games weren’t as prevalent back then as they are today, thus many parents don’t quite grasp the concept.
EDIT: I would like to add that even people who didn’t play online games, such as my mother, still played on the atari, for example, and know the concept of “unpauseable” games. So I think that it mostly comes down to demographic. In my group of school friends (a few years ago) some parents were in the know and others weren’t.
I’m 46. Quake came out when I was 19. Of course I know about Quake.
Who do you think was playing Quake and Unreal Tournament if not the parents of today’s youth?
My wife of a year younger than me is the mom in the meme. I’m 35. The joke is still alive!
If you ever played an Atari 2600, you understand the concept of an unpauseable game you play at home.
I’m 40 and grew up gaming. Your mom is probably younger and also grew up around games. Online gaming has been a thing since the 90’s. Your parents aren’t like my parents were. They won’t call your Playstation a Nintendo.
