How to Waste a Whole Bunch of Time

So, a “friend” (I put this in quotes for reasons that will soon become apparent) gave my daughter a Tamagotchi that she found on the sidewalk. The whole family immediately went bonkers over it. If you haven’t heard about Tamagotchi, they’re electronic pets that you have to monitor, feed, play with, give medicine to, and clean up their poop. The scenario is that an alien being (the Tamagotchi) has come down from planet Tama to be your pet. It morphs every so often into a different shape as it grows older. As it grows one year per day, it morphs a lot. And, it does other totally cute things like take a bath, sing, dance, do somersaults, wink, yawn, and ask for attention. In short, it’s like another baby that you can’t put down. So, my daughter has asked me to do Tamagotchi daycare while she’s at school. Tim (the pet’s name) and I do our errands, together, walk together, shop together, whatever together. He asks for food and today I caught him winking at me. Sly dog. Anyway, the whole family is involved now, making sure the little bugger doesn’t die (the last three incarnations died and went back to planet Tama). I showed him to Jessica yesterday. She wasn’t nearly as inamored of him as I am. Maybe it’s just a mother-alien thing…