Min Yi Su

Posted By Min Yi on February 20, 2013

Last year, the phenomenon of the Magic Cards entered the sheltered world of my ten year old boy. His friends played it, and it seemed, he might have been the last one of his peers to learn of this game. I resisted in many ways, making excuse after excuse to not buy the cards. There were several reasons:

1. Some of the cards were quite gruesome and inappropriate (in my opinion) for children. In fact, Magic Cards were meant for children 13+, check the packaging.

2.  It’s already challenging enough to get the kids outside to play, I didn’t want something else to keep them sedentary in the house.

3. My ten year old is the eldest of three boys. If he picks up this trend, his little brothers will be pining for them too. My job is to keep their childhood intact and introduce the world to them gently and mindfully.

On my son’s eleventh birthday, almost all of his friends bought him Magic Cards as a present. I braced myself. Then, I embraced it. If this is going to be in my child’s life, it is going to be in my life and I want to understand what it is so that I may consciously guide it in our home. I learned that in a nutshell there are white (angelic being), green (forest creature), blue (water creature), red (fire creature) and black (demon) cards. I asked that he only keep white, green and blue. If you looked at them you will know why. He will have my blessing to have the other ones when he turns 13. I also asked him play with his friends but not with his brothers. This was a compromise we were both happy with, at least for now.

Nine months later, today, I am playing with the boys every once in a while. I have my own white blue deck. The rules are starting to sink in enough that I almost enjoy it, like a chess game.  I’ve also discovered some advantages:

1. I get to see how my children play, interact and react in competitive situations. In a playful environment, I have a chance to encourage their strengths and support their challenges.

2. If I look at the game as an opportunity to connect, then that will be it’s purpose.

3. I get to model sportsmanship, reasonability and patience while I play.

4. I get to connect with my child’s friends when they are over so their world and my world has a common OUR WORLD.

Thank goodness for the Angelic Being +1/+8 that entered the battle field to help me in this journey of parenting.

Categories: Mother, Tween
Tags: chinese, connection, heart grown family, holistic family, Magic Cards, Parenting, Tween