Minecraft

 

Post originally published on Instagram

Early this year, I bought my nephew Minecraft after he promised that he will improve his math grades. His turnaround wasn't stellar, but I decided to keep the end of the bargain. After all, I was doing far worse, academically, when I was his age. So I thought, why must we impose expectations when those same set of expectations simply left me upset, disappointed, and resigned with my mediocre quiz scores back when I was still an elementary school student?

These days, he was showing off his creations on that app. The last time, it was a sophisticated house with lots of rooms and even fixtures. Now, it was a zoo with exotic birds and even a panda, pixilated and digitized so it would exist in a sandbox video game. And while he barely got my attention, I was aware of how this will shape his way of thinking and perceiving things. What he is doing, unconsciously, is creating his own imaginary world, and along with it, he is putting his vision to work.

And that makes me so proud.

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I do not know a lot of gaming apps and how they work on mobile devices, but for a kid, barely 10 years old to engage in world-building and being good at it is something to celebrate.

Because we don't teach creativity these days.

And as someone who had spent much of his childhood playing video games - learning world history from it (Civilization), learning astronomy from it (Master of Orion), learning urban planning and transport management from it (Sim City and Transport Tycoon), and learning storytelling from it (The Sims), I would rather see him getting immersed in his worlds and creating objects as he envisioned them than playing games that promote senseless violence and wanton destruction.

And who knows where his creativity would take him one day.

If only we could imagine.

Lenin complained of a sudden headache a few nights ago and it was immediately followed by a surge in body heat. 39.0 when we took his temperature. As he wasn't displaying the usual symptoms - cough, sore throat, or runny nose, we asked if he had trouble breathing. He said no, but instead, he complained of a tummyache. Having a fever and stomach discomfort these days is already a cause of alarm. Children are no longer spared from the Covid 19 Delta variant. Some are even dying from it. And so the next day, his grandparents from the father side traveled all the way from the highlands of Cavite with a MedTech to get his bloodwork done, and to also perform an Antigen test. That same day, the results came in. He had no infection whatsoever and his White Blood Cell count is normal. We would just have to wait for the Antigen results. 

Lenin still had a high fever that night.

We are supposed to be used to our kids getting sick. Diego had lots of hospital confinement and even Den had one. But this time, things are different. All the hospitals in Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces are swamped with Covid patients. Some people now even die in parking lots. So it is very difficult to imagine should one of us needs to be rushed to the hospital. We might not even get accommodated. 

It was a sleepless second night as we watched over Lenin while waiting for his results to come out the next day. I worked, I played Stellaris, I even went to Quiapo Church at daybreak just to seek another favor and ask the Nazareno for an intercession. The results got delayed for a few hours and so was my bedtime. 

At the back of my head, I would like to believe it wasn't Covid. The Favorite Aunt and I made sure everyone's already vaccinated just before the Delta Variant became widespread. I took that sliver of hope into my sleep hoping that when I wake up, things will get back to normal.

And it did.

The Antigen result showed that it wasn't Covid19. Lenin's condition has also improved significantly. While another round of bloodwork is still needed to make sure it isn't Dengue, we are hoping that we are out of the woods and that Lenin is now set on a path of recovery.