The dog won't come when she's called...

and the dumplings keep burning.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my complaints about the DS that Sophie (finally) got for her birthday today.

I held out for a long time on this one kids.  But, E talked me around, and my shiny new seven year old is now the proud owner of a shiny new pearl pink Nintendo DS.

Have I mentioned that video games fill me with rage.  I can't play them.  I hate them.  I hate trying to help Sophie play them.  I hate that the stupid voice command on the Nintendogs seems completely shitty, and trying to make the fake dog answer her to her fake name like 50 times (which, by the way, made the REAL dog very antsy because he was like, "Hello!  I'm here!  Why do you keep calling me!) nearly lead me to have a nervous breakdown this morning.

Of course, she's enjoying the Cooking with Mama game, and even has on her chief's hat.  After yesterday's REAL cooking experiment ("I made you a nice warm drink mom.  It has milk, sugar, chocolate, butterscotch and cinnamon. The microwave is a little messy now.") I can't say that I'm sad that she is making octopus dumplings in a completely sterile environment.

Ultimately, I'm a complete and total Luddite when it comes to video games.  I sound like an 80 year old woman walking around saying things like, "Kids these days don't know how to have fun anymore.  All they do is play those new-fangled  Pac-Man games."

But I said OK, and so, having made my bed, I suppose I aught to quit my bitching and lay in it.

So--Happy 7th birthday my darling Soph.  You are the light of my life and the song in my heart.  Please keep liking me for at least a couple more years.  Also, it's almost time to put the DS away.  You have 10 more minutes.  I don't care if you're almost done with that level.