Hullo my name is Nubian and I am a WoW Mom.

Tonight World of Warcraft (which from here on out will be written as WoW) will release Cataclysm.

T is very excited and can't wait for his game to arrive tomorrow.  I have been given strict instructions to call him immediately with the code.  T has played WoW for a while now and has the coolest characters ~ Mooca Latte being one.  I have never played the game, I have sat next to T when he is chasing sparkling dragons and unicorns, but I always have to leave as I suffer terribly from motion sickness.  Who would have thought a video game could make someone throw up.

Today's blog is about my son's game playing and what some people refer to as an addiction.  I am tired of the lectures and the speeches from people and I feel it is time to defend myself and why I am okay with T playing WoW.

When T first got involved I asked him about the game, who he was speaking to, what were they doing etc etc.  His bedroom door remained open and I became friends with his WoW friends.  I made and still do make it a point to be involved in his game playing.  I have 'met' many of T's online friends through Skype and video.  I am referred to as Zebra's Mom.

T graduated from High School with a great GPA, was on the honor roll and is currently taking his gap year in Australia and South Africa.  Playing WoW is a hobby just as knitting, reading, baking, cake decorating, working on cars, fishing etc is for many others.  If T spent as much time reading a book would anyone question that he is addicted to books?

T's assignments and projects were turned in on time and he completed his chores daily.  When T was in Junior High we came to an agreement.  If I needed something done I would ask "T, I need you to unpack the dishwasher, could you give me a time frame of when it will be done?"  T would then respond either within 10, 20, or 50 minutes, (the agreement was it could not be longer than an hour).  It works great for us because I know that it will be done and T has control of his time.  Think about how many times we as adults are working on a project and someone comes into our office telling us that a certain job needs to be completed.  I know I had to count to 10 on many occasions.

There are times when I have called to speak to my son and he has told me that he is currently involved in a 'raid'.  I totally understand and I call him later.  The problem is that other adults don't understand and assume I am feeding his addiction. 

Let us go back to a hobby, if my brother in law was reeling in a huge Tuna and my sister asked him to please put down is rod and change the babies diaper, I know that my brother in law would give her the 'look' and probably the finger, if he could.  How is this any different from my son being involved in a raid?

Anything can turn into an addiction and T knows this first hand.  The first 11 years of Trevor's life his father was an alcoholic, addiction is in the family.

So for all those out there who are quick to criticize a parent for allowing their child to play WoW at least I know where my son is, who he is corresponding with and not in the back seat of a vehicle at some seedy drive in.

Wives if your husbands play the game, find out more about it, maybe you can even play dress up.  That would without a doubt have them sparkling your dragon than one on a computer screen.