Rousting a kid is every parent’s morning nightmare. Those kids cling to the pillows the way leeches used to stick to our backs at the old swimming hole.
Two weeks ago, my daughter picked up a Pocket NeoPets electronic game, at the local Target using her allowance money. Promptly, at 7:30 each morning, the game buzzes to feed her critter—a Fairy Poogle, I do believe—and she hops out of bed with urgency no alarm clock could muster. It’s a parent’s dream situation.
It’s not like she doesn’t have any real animals to take care of, a bunny, two gerbils, a mouse, and a cat. Then there are the two opossums—Fred and Chop Choi—we let feast from the cat’s food dish.
NeoPets are expensive, but they’ve been worth every penny. I introduced my daughter to the NeoPets website when she was still seven. The destination proved to be a goldmine of Internet learning. There, on her own, she learned most of the basic skills required to use any Wwebsite, right down to regular visits to the “What’s New” section (That I know because there she tracks new NeoPets plushie releases to Limited Too stores).
What’s the expense in a free website, you ask? The merchandise. My daughter has amassed as collection of a dozen-and-a-half NeoPets plushies, plus Pet Pets, too. Then there are the talking NeoPets and pocket electronic games. But, it has been money well spent, considering what she has gained from using the website and playing NeoPets, rather than, say, Barbies, with her friends.
Best of all is this new alarm clock disguised as a game. C`mon, surely it’s no coincidence morning feeding is when kids should be getting up for school.
Photo Credit: Molly Wilcox