>From: Steven Diamond <diamondz@nmia.com>
>Subject: Pokemon TCG article: "Parents! Play with your Kids!"
>X-Sender: diamondz@pop.nmia.com (Unverified)
>To: ThePojo@pojo.com
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>
>I sent this on the 15th but maybe it got lost, so I'm sending it again...
>
>I'd like to respond to/agree with "Mike" <guavamike@Mindspring.com> who
>wrote "Kids and Pokemon" earlier this month.  My wife & I (40-something's)
>got into Pokemon TCG early this summer when our kids (son age 10, daughter
>7) began coming home from camp with individual cards they got trading food
>(crackers, treats!) with other kids.  
>
>We'd never seen Pokemon before, since we've resisted buying Gameboy,
>Nintendo, Sega, etc.  My wife actually got me a basic starter deck for
>Father's Day (!) so we could all learn the game--and we quickly bought
>precon decks for all of us (remember the good old days, like June of this
>year, when decks/boosters were "plentiful"?).  We all played in the first
>Albuquerque tourney last month (my wife making it to the finals!), and this
>Sunday we're all playing in another tourney.  So we're hooked!
>
>As far as playing with and encouraging kids, I'd like to add to Mike's
>comments with the following:
>
>(1) Be generous!  Give your kids cards, trade generously even with their
>friends.  I often help my kids' friends build decks, give them/trade them
>commons & uncommons, etc.  We've even had mini-tournies in our house--what
>better way to keep an eye on the kids, get them "off the streets" so to
>speak, and encourage friendly competitions?  Be generous with your cards,
>time and encouragement--after all, in 10 years are you really going to
>=need= those extra Bills, Kadabras or Dragonairs? 
>
>(2)  Don't believe the "Age 10 and above" recommendation on the decks!  My
>7-y.o. daughter played for three hours in a tourney, mostly against older
>=boys=, most of whom couldn't believe a "little girl" was beating them!
>Pokemon TCG has encouraged/raised her reading and math level as well, and
>her comprehension of "strategy" is gaining all the time.  Who knows? Someday
>she may be a "professional" Magic: TG or chess player!?  In any case,
>encourage the little ones to play too--they don't have to be limited to just
>"collecting cute cards."
>
>(3)  Try to get other parents involved--offer to "show them" how "easy" the
>game is (don't use the word "teach"--sounds too condescending to some
>folks!).  So far we've been unable to get other parents in our neighborhood
>involved, even though their kids talk about almost nothing else!  It's such
>a shame...
>
>(4)  As Mike suggested, keep a copy of Scrye handy to help guide the kids in
>trades--and try to stay out of the trades.  Both my kids actually trade
>sometimes just to "help out" their friends.  It's okay if they trade away a
>"powerful foil" for a couple uncommons they probably already have--they may
>have gained a friend in the bargain.
>
>All for now,
>Steve "Daddy-Oh" Diamond
>(aka "diamondz")
>diamondz@nmia.com
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>Team DIAMONDZ of Albuquerque!
>The Diamond Desert Pokemon Gym
>Four Trainers--No Waiting!
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>