Instant friends

By Kat | January 20, 2007

I thought this would be a fun weekend post while the news is slow.

Last night I went to keep my mom company at the salon, mainly because we had other errands to run afterwards. While she was sitting under the dryer, I was just getting out my DS Lite, when I noticed the little girl and boy nearby had one too. I said, “Hey, I’ve got a DS Lite too!” I found out they were 6 and 4 respectively. I asked what games they had, and they were reluctant to answer at first – a healthy dose of stranger anxiety. They looked to their mom for approval, and she nodded. They rattled off a few games they had, and I had a couple too. I asked if they had Nintendogs, and they said no. I had only brought it and Clubhouse Games with me, and I figured they’d be more interested in NIntendogs, of course. I popped it in and they were enthralled. They watched over my shoulder for a while and asked lots of questions… how to feed my Nintendog, take her for a walk, etc.

Naturally when it was time for their mom to get her hair cut, she asked if they were coming, and they said no. Their mom asked if it would be okay if they watched me, and I said sure! (Later the stylist mentioned she’d asked if I’d be annoyed, but my stylist, knowing I love kids, told her no.) So they stayed with me, and finally asked to play. I showed them how to feed and walk the dog, and they were quite disappointed that I didn’t have the money to adopt a second dog from the kennel. They offered to let me play their DS – they had Spyro, which I don’t have. So we traded DSes. Their DS Lite was a bit dirty, but I figured under my direct supervision, I could keep mine clean. They didn’t even fight over it too much… the girl would have it and the boy would ask for a turn, and vice versa. The only problem I had was that the boy wanted to use his finger instead of the stylus, but oh well, nothing I couldn’t clean off with a lens wipe. The cutest part was that my mom was playing solitaire on her Palm, which also has a stylus, and the little boy went to watch her play for a few minutes! As they left, the mom told them to thank me, which they did, and asked for the name of the game.

It’s just so funny how having a DS can mean instant friends, at least for a few minutes. At first the kids were shy, but by the time we were done, the little boy wanted to sit on my lap! Certainly that could be a bad thing too, but when their mother was just a few feet away and watching, it was fun. I definitely wasn’t bored!

Have any of you had experiences like this, with either little kids or just anyone you meet with a DS or PSP?