That’s how a husband expressed his indignation recently in one of our Love School programs. He was referring to the times he would spend in front of the TV playing video games, while his wife asked for attention. He thought her absurd for interrupting him in the middle of “saving the planet,” — an advanced level in the game.

Don’t ask me what game. When it comes to video games, i’m out of the loop. Not that I don’t like them. I had my moments in adolescence. What kid who grew up in the 80’s doesn’t remember Atari, River Ride and Pac Man? At least among the boys, it was a must.

Then I grew up, and my attention moved to other things. But for a brief period of time, later on in life, I almost became addicted to Street Fighter. I was already married, and I was induced by the addicting game at a friend’s house. Thank goodness we soon moved from that city and the addiction didn’t “stick.”

Since then, my relationship with video games has been a distant one. They go their way and I go mine. I’m not criticizing those who play them, but I’ve seen many cases where men come home from work and are more interested in putting their hands on their game than their wife.

That’s when I dare to open my mouth, at the risk of being shot at as a character in Call of Duty. But oh well, I think I have a couple of lives until tomorrow’s post…

Dude, do you really prefer your PlayStation over your wife? Your marriage is in serious need of rescuing!

That’s it: why not make that your goal? Conquer —  or reconquer — your wife instead of the next level of your game? Why not score some points with her, and extra “lives,” so the next time you mess things up, you’ll have some credit?

Don’t get me wrong. If you like video games, go ahead and play them once in a while. During those “five minutes” that she’s doing her hair or getting dressed, that’s ok. A Saturday afternoon, when she goes to her Mom’s house and you have nothing to do, that won’t be a problem. The problem is that these games are programmed to make you hooked. It’s difficult to start and stop. Perhaps you’ll see it’s not worth it, and find another, more productive, way to relax and pass the time.

But, if you’re anything like that husband who thought his wife was absurd for being jealous of his video game getting all the attention, then you really need to detox.

Leave the game controller and go score some points with her.

This text was originally published in the 1st edition of The Love School magazine —  where we help couples and single people practice Intelligent Love.

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