This is a counterattack to a commonplace that Jeff Freeman wrote recently.

Blatantly ripped off from Q23:

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Brad Wardell:
I’m a very very bad, dad. At least, that’s what the dentist told me when I refused to bring my son in to have the cavity in his baby tooth filled.

So I said, “Lady, if I don’t listen to social services, what chance do you think you have?”

Which means it’s probably not surprising that I allow my 8 year old to play World of Warcraft. In my home office I have two computers side by side so often we quest together. He loves that.

But he also loves soloing. But soloing to an 8 year old means something very different to power levelers elsewhere. He’s been playing since the day it’s out. He’s only level 9 even though he’s put in quite a bit of time.

His Night Elf Hunter made a journey all the way to Stormwind. Through some pretty scary places to get there. You can imagine what people thought seeing a level 3 (at the time) character running through areas with level 30 to 40 creatures all over the place. But he made it.

His character, “Bud” (get it, buds on a tree, night elf? lol) likes to sing and dance. He’ll hang out in a small town and start dancing. Others will join in and before you know it, the whole town is dancing.

He loves to go around to different places and click on the characters until they get annoyed (keep clicking on them and they’ll eventually say “you’re getting on my nerves”). He’s heard elves, dwarves, gnomes, and humans of various sorts tell him where he should go.

His character loves to skin, cook, and fish. He only occasionally kills monsters. Instead, he’ll try out various fishing spots. He’ll kill a rabit and skin it. He’ll cook various dishes.

He also likes to visit “newbie” areas and hand out free food he cooked to the new users. I’ve seen him quest with other people in Westfall and seen him running from a level 33 undead ogre in Duskwood.

He’s just having a blast. I know most people would be aghast that a kid would be playing this game but you know, it’s really not a bad game for kids. His reading gets better from reading so much on-screen. He’s learning about money and bartering and economcis a bit. He’s learning how to follow directions even better.

Plus most importantly, it probably distracts him from that cavity in his tooth.

Yep, I’m a great dad.. ;)