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The Annoyed Man wrote: I use my phone a lot, in a lot of different situations, for a lot of different things - including entertainment. But when I'm driving, it's paired to my vehicle's sound system, and so I play my tunes that way, and I can make and receive hands free phone calls using controls on the steering wheel and voice recognition, and I keep my eyes on the road........and I don't walk around with my head in my phone.

Thank you, sir. I am enjoying the time with them. I tried geocaching. Sadly, I guess the rewards weren't immediate enough (gag). It kept their interest for about four caches and then they were done. I liked the geocaching because it had urban and rural finds. There was something for about all tastes.

(okay, so not claiming to be the awesome dad since this will be my third post around parenting in this thread.) I have been trying to make a point with the boys without telling them I am making a point. When I am driving and somebody texts me, I will hand them the phone and ask them to read it. Then i ask them to type a response. I hope that more than my words, they see me not texting behind the wheel. I figure making them type for me will help hammer the idea home. We'll see if it sticks.

and saw this while out to lunch, Pokemon is so important that it gets top billing....

goose wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: I use my phone a lot, in a lot of different situations, for a lot of different things - including entertainment. But when I'm driving, it's paired to my vehicle's sound system, and so I play my tunes that way, and I can make and receive hands free phone calls using controls on the steering wheel and voice recognition, and I keep my eyes on the road........and I don't walk around with my head in my phone.

Thank you, sir. I am enjoying the time with them. I tried geocaching. Sadly, I guess the rewards weren't immediate enough (gag). It kept their interest for about four caches and then they were done. I liked the geocaching because it had urban and rural finds. There was something for about all tastes.

(okay, so not claiming to be the awesome dad since this will be my third post around parenting in this thread.) I have been trying to make a point with the boys without telling them I am making a point. When I am driving and somebody texts me, I will hand them the phone and ask them to read it. Then i ask them to type a response. I hope that more than my words, they see me not texting behind the wheel. I figure making them type for me will help hammer the idea home. We'll see if it sticks.

Where is the "LIKE" button? That could very well be one of the best lessons you ever teach your children.

goose wrote:I am being given one and a half to two hours a night with my two teen aged boys because of this stupid game. And because I am willing to ride bikes with them and drive them some, I am the best dad ever. Is it mindless? Oh yeah. Are we laughing and teasing and strategizing together when we might otherwise be back home doing separate things? Oh yeah. Hate on it if you want. I am loving every minute of it.

Kudos to you sir, If you hunt with your son today, you won't have to hunt for your son tonorrow! I played on the Xbox with my son, played computer strategy games with both my son and daughter, and of course went shooting, hunting etc. Time well spent, I raised two good upstanding kids!

goose wrote:I am being given one and a half to two hours a night with my two teen aged boys because of this stupid game. And because I am willing to ride bikes with them and drive them some, I am the best dad ever. Is it mindless? Oh yeah. Are we laughing and teasing and strategizing together when we might otherwise be back home doing separate things? Oh yeah. Hate on it if you want. I am loving every minute of it.

I am 33 years old and I just got both my parents hooked on this game. Both my parents and my Wife and I went walking around and had a good ole time meeting other people and finding out new information on how to play this game. It is a good way to bring families closer. I just wish I had kids that I could be the "Greatest Dad Ever" for. Keep up the good work sir... There needs to be more Dads like you.

You all need to cut it out. :-) (But thank you, to each of you.) I doubt that i am anything special. But I do like hanging out with them, and they appear to like hanging with me. I just feel like these are precious days. It'll be girls and cars and jobs soon enough.
Thanks again for all of the kind words.

goose wrote:I am being given one and a half to two hours a night with my two teen aged boys because of this stupid game. And because I am willing to ride bikes with them and drive them some, I am the best dad ever. Is it mindless? Oh yeah. Are we laughing and teasing and strategizing together when we might otherwise be back home doing separate things? Oh yeah. Hate on it if you want. I am loving every minute of it.

When my adult children flew the coop, one of the tools we used to keep in touch and spend some time, virtual though it was, together was playing a MMORPG.

mr1337 wrote:

parabelum wrote:Apparently "adults" are into this as well.

Don't judge me.

That being said, don't Poké and drive.

No judgement here... just another activity that we can enjoy as a family.

My people who monitor the security cameras nd building during church times have noticed a lot of traffic in and out of our parking lot. It seemed to really pick up last week. Today I was enlightened that our parking lot is an "arena" or area that they can do battle with Pokemon.

This is a big nuisance and I pray they go away. Is there anyway to change this other than praying these "adults" grow up?

carlson1 wrote:My people who monitor the security cameras nd building during church times have noticed a lot of traffic in and out of our parking lot. It seemed to really pick up last week. Today I was enlightened that our parking lot is an "arena" or area that they can do battle with Pokemon.

This is a big nuisance and I pray they go away. Is there anyway to change this other than praying these "adults" grow up?

The purpose of the church is not to reach the people inside the church building. The purpose is to reach the ones outside it. That's a lot easier when they come to you. Use it as an outreach. People who are out playing cell phone games on a Sunday morning clearly need Jesus. Go out there and share the gospel with them. They'll either want to come inside or go away. Either way they're not in your parking lot anymore. One of the area churches did something with "lures" to draw players in deliberately so that they could share Jesus with them. From what I heard, it worked pretty well. I think this game is a silly fad that will pass in time, but while it's here let's use it to bring as many people as we can to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So they are seriously hiding these characters on people's property (i.e. back yards)? If so, it's only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs!

Edit: Just noticed the Forbes article link addresses this very issue.

LucasMcCain wrote:

carlson1 wrote:My people who monitor the security cameras nd building during church times have noticed a lot of traffic in and out of our parking lot. It seemed to really pick up last week. Today I was enlightened that our parking lot is an "arena" or area that they can do battle with Pokemon.

This is a big nuisance and I pray they go away. Is there anyway to change this other than praying these "adults" grow up?

The purpose of the church is not to reach the people inside the church building. The purpose is to reach the ones outside it. That's a lot easier when they come to you. Use it as an outreach. People who are out playing cell phone games on a Sunday morning clearly need Jesus. Go out there and share the gospel with them. They'll either want to come inside or go away. Either way they're not in your parking lot anymore. One of the area churches did something with "lures" to draw players in deliberately so that they could share Jesus with them. From what I heard, it worked pretty well. I think this game is a silly fad that will pass in time, but while it's here let's use it to bring as many people as we can to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like your style. "Here's a cold water bottle and an informational tract about our Church and our mission. Got a minute? I'd like to just ask a question or two to see if we can help you in any way."

goose wrote:

LucasMcCain wrote:

carlson1 wrote:My people who monitor the security cameras nd building during church times have noticed a lot of traffic in and out of our parking lot. It seemed to really pick up last week. Today I was enlightened that our parking lot is an "arena" or area that they can do battle with Pokemon.

This is a big nuisance and I pray they go away. Is there anyway to change this other than praying these "adults" grow up?

The purpose of the church is not to reach the people inside the church building. The purpose is to reach the ones outside it. That's a lot easier when they come to you. Use it as an outreach. People who are out playing cell phone games on a Sunday morning clearly need Jesus. Go out there and share the gospel with them. They'll either want to come inside or go away. Either way they're not in your parking lot anymore. One of the area churches did something with "lures" to draw players in deliberately so that they could share Jesus with them. From what I heard, it worked pretty well. I think this game is a silly fad that will pass in time, but while it's here let's use it to bring as many people as we can to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like your style. "Here's a cold water bottle and an informational tract about our Church and our mission. Got a minute? I'd like to just ask a question or two to see if we can help you in any way."

Church in our area does just that... they offer cold water to drink and a place to sit down on their patio while enjoying Pokeman. They even have some of those cut outs where you put your face in and take a picture with a Pokemon theme. Embrace it and use it for your ministry!

As long as the Poke people stay off my lawn they'll continue to enjoy themselves...