First I'll confess that all 4 of my boys, age 6-13, play too much Xbox, inadequately supervised. They have had game boys, nintendos, playstation, etc., but nothing has been such a constant obsession like this. DH & I are trying to monitor and reduce...I thought it was just a phase, but the older two get whiny when they haven't gotten to play Xbox. I think part of the fascination is that they all get to play it together (4 players) either as a team against others or against each other. They also love boxing each other (with full equipment) despite Mom's anxiety and different sizes, paintball, dirt bike riding, and other horrible boy activities that turn my hair gray and give me wrinkles.
All 4 are soccer enthusiasts, with DS11 and DS6 probably having the greatest natural athleticism. DS11 recently quit piano and life is GREAT! (it was torment for the last year). The other 3 still play, at which they are good but not great.
DS13 & DS9 love to read, especially DS13 who is much faster and more well-read than most adults. He also golfs avidly after soccer season, and is on the MESA team doing robotics with his high school.
DS11 has always been the labeled the creative one: drawing, writing, creating/building, and recently sewing. The art fascination has dwindled since he started middle school and has art class with a mean art teacher. He's on the Science Olympiad team and reads with disadvantaged youngsters.
DS9 is my math guy and he also loves Warriors, Pokemon, and any game. He spends a lot of time playing imaginative games with DS6, where they have an elaborate dialog but no outsider understands what they're talking about.
