Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Requiem for Mike.

When S. got her Tamagotchi, she fell in love with it. Unlike her older sister, who killed and restarted hers every fifteen minutes, S. fed her digital pet, played with it constantly, and earned it billions of points on Tamatown. The points were used to purchase things like pianos, which the Tamagotchi then used to play music, and trips around the world, so the Tamagotchi could broaden its horizons.

It was her constant companion.

At age 8 or so, her Tamagotchi got married and had a baby. The baby was a boy, and S. named it after my husband. The new Mr. WG was loved and cared for just as its mother had been before it.

The Tamagotchi came with us to Disney World, of course. And one day, at MGM, S. left it behind on Star Tours. We returned and searched for it, to no avail. We called the lost and found for several days, but had no luck. S. held it together while there was still hope, but when it became obvious that Mr. WG Jr. was gone forever, S. fell apart. She lay crying in bed in the hotel, and when I went to hug her, I saw that she had DRAWN A PICTURE OF IT, which she was clutching in her hand. (I still have it. I plan to show it at her wedding.)

We bought a new Tama when we got back home, and S. and her new toy quickly bonded. She named him Mike, her love for Mr. WG apparently forgotten.

You'll recall that school started the other day. Tamas do not go to school. And when you leave them at home for two days, unpaused, they, um, die. When S. discovered hers was now an angel, she was beyond hysterical.

"I told you to take care of Mike," she screamed.

"And I told you I wasn't going to," I replied.

"But I thought you would take care of him," she sobbed.

We reset it and hatched a new egg, but I feel that it's not only Mike who has died. It's a little of her faith in me.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

*sigh* I wouldn't have, either. Can it not live without constant attention? Like, wait until she comes home to be fed, and not die? Shows what I know. But honestly, it was her toy, and you were honest with her. Try not to feel bad.

Xteener said...

I second Blu's comment. I wouldn't have done it either. I might (after the first loss) make sure to pause it while she's at school though.

Xteener said...

(cont.) But don't feel bad, you did the right thing.

Mary P Jones (MPJ) said...

Those disappointing moments of childhood. Hurts to go through them -- hurts to see your kids go through them -- but go through them we all must eventually.

Mom said...

And soon they won't care about the tamagotchi's any more anyway because their webkinz will be much more inviting.

Though nothing is like a tamagotchi for airplane entertainment.

Anonymous said...

I know this isn't related to your blog, but I found another one through you - ADHD Mom (calming the chaos)- and now her blog isn't there anymore. What happened to her?

WriterGrrl said...

Anon, I'll ask her what's up with the blog.