New TV is a party pooper

Greetings and happy new year!

Jan. 1 was an exciting day as always for me, symbolizing a whole 365 (this year 366) new days of new possibilities. It also marked one day closer to my son's highly anticipated back-to-school extravaganza. He's been ready to go back into his comfortable routine since day 1 of winter break. He spent day 1 of the new year flooding the house with crocodile tears, moping from cabin fever and an extreme case of the boredom munchies.

His most recent catalyst of misery is the new 24-inch flat screen TV I got for my desk in my room. It's coupled with a Playstation 3 (I'm not cool enough for a 4 just yet). My room is also his evening hang-out spot where he paces from end to end, speaking our friendly banter, which sometimes consists of mouth-fart noises back and forth or one to two sentences on repeat. His joyful place to unwind before bedtime. Now, evil mommy went and changed something, and he's acting like his whole world has been shattered.

The first day or two, he would only inch one toe into my doorway, just enough to ogle the TV and Playstation with extreme suspicion, then walk back to his room. Once he attempted to peep inside just enough to eyeball me and say, "Put it downstairs?" When I said "No, honey, this is mom's new toy. It has to stay here." Silently, he went away. After five days, he's managed to enter his once enjoyable domain, but it's not the same. He enters walking sideways, keeping his back to my desk area, only facing toward the side of the room where these intruders aren't visible.

Backstory

Long, long ago when the sons were less than 10, mommy was a gamer. I was all about my Nintendo console, and both of them used to be seated, one on each side of me, watching me kick ass in Tekken, Street Fighter, Rayman, and Mario Cart, among others. As time went by, mommy got too busy with going back to college and working full-time to bother with video games.

Is it worth it?

My eldest is the one who set up this game station for me with a stack of games and insisted I get back in the "game." I've been super stressed out lately, and this was his way of saving my sanity. It has worked, except now I'm sad and guilt-stricken that in seeking out some fun for myself for a change I've destroyed my other boy's happy zone.

A family meeting ressulted in the husband and eldest son insisting that I leave everything the way it is, enjoy some innocent and well-deserved fun, and allow him time to adjust to the new additions, that one day soon enough, all will return to normal. I suppose they're right, but I always do the mom thing, put myself last, and cave in to whatever makes my baby happy. Logically speaking, he still has his own room in which to dwell, and a DVD player and movie collection all his own in the living room. He didn't seem to mind when I hung up all my handmade, giant paper flowers in that one corner when they were spread out all around the room before. This desk is my crafting, Netflix, writing, reading  AND now gaming station. It constantly evolves with my interests.

He'll be 18 in March, so it's time to toughen him up. It's not that I haven't been teaching him that life isn't always going to conform to him and his quirks, but sometimes, especially in our home, I bend the rules for him.

Time to play some Uncharted: Drake's Fortune!