“No, Thank You, Dada. I’m Okay.”

Who expects to tear up while playing Astro Bot on a random Sunday?

There are two constants with my youngest, who, despite my best efforts, turned five a few weeks ago. She starts Kindergarten in the fa—you know what, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just going to get upset. Instead, let’s talk about something equally heartwarming (and a little tearjerk-y), but at least this one is related to playing games. 

Right, those two constants. It’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Astro Bot. If we’re bored and looking for something to do, she’ll ask to play one or the other—and most likely both.

Astro Bot, crucially, was the game that finally unlocked controllers for my five-year-old.

She is, at all times, sensitive to becoming frustrated. I try to be mindful of this when she’s playing a video game, offering to step in when it seems like a set of challenges might cause her to get upset, ruining the experience. I foresaw this happening in Astro Bot during a sequence where she was required to hop up three platforms, and after she died for the second time, I decided to lean over and offer some help to the next section.

Instead, she told me something remarkable: “No, thank you, Dada. I’m okay.”

😭😭😭