The other night, we risked taking Isabella to another basketball game that Madeline was cheering at. The last one was a minor fiasco; everything was too crowded and way too loud. The buzzers, the cheering, the whistles, … I didn’t like it either. Isabella hated it.

But Isabella was in a different place now, and this time we came armed with a secret weapon. The Nintendo DS. Sometimes that thing’s a lifesaver. Isabella has had a love/obsession relationship with it for a while now. Sometimes she likes to play it; sometimes she must play it.

Isabella can have trouble controlling her emotions while playing it though. She may growl or stick her tongue out or make her body go rigid or even scream at times – exactly like her Daddy does when the light turns yellow when he’s zooming up to the light but too far away to make it through.

At the basketball game, in a rare moment of almost complete silence (someone might have been shooting free throws), Isabella yelled out while playing her game, “I just have to die!” I’m hoping she meant Mario. Everybody turned, saw what she was doing, then chuckled.

A bit later, a young boy came over to talk to her about the game. I didn’t hear it all, but I did hear something about hooking their two consoles up so they could “battle.” Isabella, intent on her game, ignored him completely. I tried to get her to reply, but she had her headphones on and I really didn’t know what to tell her to say to the kid. I asked her later why she didn't respond, and she said she didn’t know what to say either.

Some people will tell you that if the kids perseverate on something, you need to take it away. Others say to let them perseverate on it, but work it into something else. They love Dora and you’re trying to get them to dress themselves? Then talk about how Dora dresses herself. That sort of thing.

Isabella isn’t really obsessed with the DS anymore, but she does still like it. In the past it was, “Is it time for the DS? Is it time for the DS? I want to play the Mario game and kill the purple bomb. Is it time for the DS?” I remember telling her that we could talk about the DS in the morning, but first it was time for the bedtime story about the butterfly who learned the lesson of sharing.

Me: “And the beautiful butterfly waited for the flower to open. And then –“
Isabella: “Can I add to the story?”
M: Sure
I: So then a big mean purple bomb comes over and takes the flower.

I eventually finished that story and went on to a different one, but the purple bomb made an encore appearance. Finally I said, “Let’s not talk about the purple bomb anymore.”

I: “The big, mean purple bomb. Right?”
M: “Right. No more talking. It’s time to go to sleep.”
I: Can I talk about it when you’re asleep?
M: Yes (knowing that she’d fall asleep first).
I: But he learned his lesson.
M: Huh? Yes. Now go to sleep.
I: I’m glad he learned his lesson.
M: No more talking about the purple bomb. Go to sleep.
I: Can I talk about it in the morning?
M: Yes, now go to sleep and stop talking about it.

Did she stop? I don’t know. I fell asleep first.