It’s A Fortnite World

February 16, 2019

They used to make forts from pillows, and blankets, and the couch deconstructed. Now it’s Fortnite. Pillows swapped for controls, blankets no longer needed for teen boys wearing enormous headsets. The mic up for talking to parents, down for talking to friends. Watching the Superbowl that never was I said to my son, look they are playing Fortnite! Which would explain a lot. It’s everywhere. Even at the Super bowl.

 

 

I wonder about the stealthy, strategic plotting and offense and defense played on barren landscapes with uninhabited buildings… maybe he has a future in the military, or as a Navy seal, or maybe this will prepare him for the end times, or the apocalypse or something. Or a really really bad day when you fight off strangers who are ready to take down you and all your friends in one virtual sweep.

A friend told me while carpooling my son and a group of boys they realized they had been playing Fortnite together and were meeting face to face – in navy blazers, khakis, and ties en route to a Bar Mitzvah. Screen names swapped for real names. The virtual world intersected with the real world in the back of a SUV in the Philadelphia suburbs.

My brothers played with little green army men. I would find them in the azaleas bushes and balanced across tree limbs, along window sills and under tables. Imaginary battles plotted out in their home and yard. Army men now wear skins, and battle across a virtual landscape.

And I find I am able to see the rose colored hue in anything, even Fortnight… ‘well, at least it is interactive’ I will chirp to friends. Or other times, ‘awwww that is sooooo cute’ when I hear our CT friends or sweet nephews have been shooting up enemies together with jacked arms and semi automatics, bonding in their coordinated skins. And other times, ‘well it is easier to get off than Madden because you can just stop instead of being in the middle of a heated game.’ Followed by a sigh.

I was the last mom to cave I am told. But I am sure there are others stronger that I who are still holding out. We talked it through until there was no more to discuss and I acquiesced. With boundaries. This is not an easy world to navigate.

And maybe it isn’t a Fortnite world after all, and little green army men have simply gone 2D. And the fundamentals never change, for it will always be a Mother’s World. And there is nothing more protective and stealthy than a mom strategically navigating social media, and Fortnite, and the virtual world for her children.

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Category: Random and Fun
Tags: children, fortnite, guidance, love, mommy blog, mommy life, parenting, social media, teens |