My Wife the Wii Master

When she's not scouring the web for the perfect house or working her booty off to maintain the illusion that our home is the perfect house for potential buyers, my wife is usually in our basement honing her Wii skills. After the kids go to bed she then uses those finely tuned Wii-bilities to kick my ass.

A couple nights ago I beat her soundly at billiards though it's a game (Wii Play) we just got and neither one of us really knows how to play well. The next day at 2pm she called me at the office to tell me she'd just won gold medals in both billiards and target practice. I can't say I'm surprised.

She possesses perseverance that I can only dream of; if I had her dedication I would have written at least one or two novels by now and probably a screenplay to boot.

I do things that feel good until they stop feeling good, then get frustrated when they go bad. She finds something she enjoys and then continues to work at it until she does it extremely well. I enjoy feeling good. She enjoys doing well.

I see the same traits in our sons. Seth is just like me: talented but easily frustrated and ultimately defeated. Ben continues working on a challenge until he's proficient. His perseverance often overcomes Seth's talent.

It's both frustrating and enlightening to see your own worst traits in your child. All you can do is try your best to be aware when he might be teetering close to giving up and be there to head it off--all the while trying to stay self-aware and fight your own tendencies toward throwing in the towel.