I Sold My Switch (& Reducing Screen Time)
I bought the Nintendo Switch when everyone else was buying it during the early “shutdown” days of the pandemic and played several games for a few months. But it has sat collecting dust ever since and my son showed little interest (and I am not-so-secretly thrilled that while he enjoys his little apps on his iPad and restricted kids YouTube, he doesn’t really watch tv a lot nor is he interested in gaming—he prefers physical activity and hands-on stuff above all else). So I sold it (the console, extra controllers, all the games) to a VERY happy neighbor.
It’s not that I didn’t have fun playing Animal Crossing, etc. (see below for Story of the Seasons anecdote), but it got repetitive. And by the time the big update came, I didn’t really care anymore.
Plus, overall I’ve been trying to jettison or reduce hobbies/activities that require too much sitting. I sit in front of screens a lot for my business—then add Quel Parish stuff, the little bit of PC gaming I do, streaming TV, preparing homeschool materials (I create and curate the curriculum for my son), reading on my Kindle, etc. I use the screen time feature on the iPhone/iPad to limit my doom scrolling, I’ve cut back on online shopping a LOT, and I use alarms to tell me to get up and stretch and move around during long sessions in my home office, but it’s not enough. My mental health and sleep are greatly affected by how much exercise I get so it’s important I prioritize it. The Switch was easy to let go.
Okay so one of the cute Switch games I was into for a while was Story of the Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town. In addition to my ambitious plans to build up my farm homestead, I wandered into a romance with a forest ranger named Ralph.
We had a few meet-cutes and little convos here and there. Then it blossomed into a romance when things with Damon (super blond, very laconic and sarcastic) petered out. Ralph and I eventually got married.
It was a rocky beginning. I remained ambitious post nuptials and was working a lot. Ralph was NOT happy and would have these little confrontations with me.
Anyway—he then told me he had a dream we had a baby. Lawd. So then we did. I think it was a girl, but stopped playing soon after.
My ideal cute game? A mash-up of Story of the Seasons and Animal Crossing with a bit more PG-13+ romance and town drama.