More Important than a Video Game

I have fallen in love with a video game for the Nintendo DS called "Animal Crossing." My daughter-in-law discovered it and brought it with her on vacation in June. She was so taken with the game, her enthusiasm was contagious. As soon as we returned from vacation, I went to Best Buy and purchased my own DS and a copy of the game. My sister, niece and my niece's husband have all started playing the game. It is addictive and I enjoy it immensely and have played it many hours in the last few weeks.

This weekend, I was playing Animal Crossing when Emme jumped up on my lap and wanted to be petted. I gave her a quick rub and thought that she would jump down and walk away. Instead she wanted to be petted more. At first I got annoyed because she was interfering with my game. Then I stopped and reconsidered. What was I thinking? I was passing up the opportunity to pet a real live loving puppy to play a game with computer generated animals? Something was wrong with that picture. I put the DS down and paid my full attention to Emme. I rubbed her ears, scratched her back and petted her belly for a long time. She was happy. I was happy. I had my priorities in order. A real pet wins hands down over a video game any time.