Dad Addicted to Games and a Working Mom for 01/20/2017

Dear Family Coach: My husband is a big kid. He is addicted to playing hockey games on the Xbox. Every night, he begs our son to play with him, but my son has no interest. Sometimes he even bribes him to play video games. This seems ridiculous to me. How can I convince my husband that bribing a child to play video games is problematic? — Married to a Kid

Dear Married: There's good news and bad news here. The good news is that your husband is actively trying to engage your son. Video games may seem like a complete waste of time to you. And you may see absolutely no redeeming value in them. But video games, like many other types of games, can actually be quite social. And just because people are staring at a screen doesn't mean it's mindless. Your husband is trying to engage your son in something that he himself enjoys. There's nothing wrong with that.

Updated: Fri Jan 20, 2017