Call it a slippery slope.
Call it a serious addiction in the making.
Call it a waste of time.
Call it “what all the kids are doing”
Call it parenting research.
Call it #Momcraft.
My friend Vikki started playing Minecraft a few months ago, and I remember her posting something along the lines of “I’m goin’ in!” and then shortly after, she started talking about creating a server for her friends to play.
I only peripherally paid attention to the chatter… while I was aware that it was a thing for a lot of kids Max’s age, he is still pretty into Angry Birds and the Lego Star Wars and Hobbitt games on the Xbox. While he has brought home a few drawings of creepers and other Minecraft-y things, he’s never actually asked to play it.
But I know that day is approaching, and as a good mom in this online age, I want to know what we’re getting into, so finally, last night, I joined Vikki and Susan‘s server, Momcraft.
I “spawned” in (See? I’m learning the vocabulary already! Am I cooler yet?) and looked around. Spent some time literally just doing that. Looking. Around. I actually had to quit the game so I could get to Google, so I could look for help.
Yup. And so began my illustrious Minecraft career.
(BTW, it’s really disheartening to see, in your search for answers, things like “OMG, you seriously can’t figure this out?!?!” Sigh. I played video games in the days of left-right scrolling, or in the case of Mario, right scrolling only! So many directions for characters to go now!)
So I figure out how to walk (It’s the W key, BTW. And space bar to jump. You’re welcome.) and I walk around for a while taking out some aggressions on the grass and some flowers, and an unfortunate chicken.
And then night fell and I knew from my research (meaning: Vikki’s post) that bed things would happen to me at night.
So I quit out as fast as I could and waited for Susan to invite me to the #Momcraft server.
Now that I’m there, I have a building I can hide out in, and they’re kindly sharing their supplies, but I’m still fumbling along. (Seriously. Will someone please tell me how to EAT?)
My money is on Max figuring the whole thing out about 5 minutes after I grant him access, and I’ll be left in the dust.
But until then, #Momcraft it is.
Do you have any super-genius Minecraft tips for me? Spill ’em in the comments!
LOL Lizz. You don’t know how many You Tube videos Sara has watched regarding Minecraft. She wants us to buy an Xbox One so she can play on that. In fact we subscribe to a Minecraft channel called SkydoesMinecraft. 🙂 Have fun!!
I love this so hard. SO HARD.
Welcome! Without Susan, I would be so lonely as a momcrafter. She was the one person I could talk to about it. Thanks to her and her husband we have a server and friend joining! So exciting!
By the way, you eat by selecting the food and then right clicking and holding.
Seriously love this post!
We are a complete Minecraft family here!! The song parody videos on YT are awesome too!
mcspotlights has the best videos on Youtube about minecraft, quick 1-minute videos about each and every object in the game, with two pointers at the end to other videos about similar objects. They are funny, clean, and child-appropriate (many YouTube videos about Minecraft aren’t.) Here’s their first beginner’s guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3Ai7HknT4 It’s not the best of their videos, but once you start watching you’ll see why IMHO they make the best videos on YouTube about Minecraft.
To eat in minecraft, first you have to be hungry (i.e. not in creative mode and there’s some black in your food bars), then you hold the food in your hand* and right click. You will eat it. If the food is not good to eat, such as zombie meat, or raw chicken, pork, or beef, you have a chance of getting poisoned. With zombie meat it’s like 90% chance, the others are slightly safer. Veggies and bread are safe.
Minecraft is **very** addictive, especially for young children. Establish in advance that it’s a special treat to get to play Minecraft, not a right, or when you say, “hey, it’s time to do something else now” it will seem like a punishment.
Scholastic has a nice Minecraft basics book for $5, or you can get the 2-pack with the basics and the Redstone handbook for $8. That is easily the most popular book ordered this year from Scholastic.
–Strawberry “ask me anything about Minecraft”
* ‘e’ to open your inventory, drag to put food on one of your 9 hot keys, then ‘e’ to close your inventory again, and press the number of the hotkey the food is at or use the scroll wheel to select the food.
** Don’t ask me how I know.
Thank you!
I finally figured out that I had to be holding it in my hand (so I had to put my sword down)
Whew!
Max hasn’t asked to play yet… we’ll see how long that lasts…
So, so funny! I have watched my 16 year old (you would like him – he loves the Beatles too) play this and I have no idea what’s going on. Glad to find your through Type A Parent. I’m tall too, and your description of being taller than you appear on the internet cracked me up. Have a great weekend!
One of the bestmemories I have of spending time with my now 12 yo is the day we started minecraft. It was hilarious trying to work out what to do, with youtube open at the same time. We’d somehow make something work but with no clue as to how. Many many MANY hours later I still play, sometimes with the kids but mostly on my own. I am addicted to finding diamonds and even run a server now. It is still a special bond between my son and I. I feel lucky to have been able to share an interest with my kids.
Do you know of any places that will host a virtual server with mini-games that’s appropriate for a 10 year old’s birthday party — kids ages 7+ attending? I’d like something that has non-violent mini-games and will host a private party, so I don’t have to worry about random internet language showing up, while still allowing my son to play the sorts of Minecraft games he likes. Games like spleef and hide-and-seek variants are fine, but no mobster shooting allowed.
Thanks!
–Beth
I don’t know of any, but let me ask some people! 🙂