A dad's influence

When I was growing up, my dad was a big influence in my life. As it should be. Home should be the first place a child learns from, and their first teachers should be their parents. My parents have taught me by example and still do to this day. But, the influences of a dad are just as important as a mother's, and just as powerful.

All seriousness aside, today I witnessed that type of influence in action when I went downstairs to the family room and saw this:

Yes, my boys are playing the new Halo video game. Scott began the download last night so the boys would be able to play it today.

You might be wondering, "How does a video game tie to a father's influence?" And, here's the answer: Scott.

I play video games, too (hard not to when you grew up with the ever-changing game consoles), but not these. Scott, however, loves them; so when the first Halo game was released, he was hooked. He even joined a game night with several of his co-workers at the time, where they would gather at someone's house to play.

Yeah, he's a nerd. Or is he a geek?

Doesn't matter, I still love him, ha!

He got Ryan hooked on it first, which expanded into collecting as many Halo Mega Blok (like Legos) sets as he could. And, since Ethan loved to follow Ryan when they were younger (not so much now), he was soon playing the game and building the sets, too. Interestingly enough, they also got Vanessa to play, and she proved to be just as good as her brothers.

Jeff started playing when he was four, mostly with Ryan. We were amazed at how fast he caught on, and how good he was at it. In fact, one time, Ryan let him play against his friends (13 years old at the time), and Jeff beat them all.

They were all impressed that they got beat by a five year old, lol.

Anyway, today Halo 5: Guardians was released. The boys have been anxiously awaiting this day, and Scott, too, although he won't admit it. We have all of the Halo games, which have been played over and over again in anticipation for the new game. Ryan even asked if he could stay home from school today (sorry, son!), that's how much they love this game. And, when I sent a pic to Scott of the boys playing, his first words were, "NO FAIR!"

I love these boys of mine.

But, most of all, I love that Scott has such an influence on them that encompasses almost everything in their lives, including video games. It's fun to see them bond over them as they play together, or even discuss strategies and weapons.

It's also really funny to watch them (Scott included) argue who gets play next. I'll have to remember to get a picture when Scott gets home from work.

Gotta love it.