<b>By Lee Scott</b>

Last night, I dreamt that I was in a mall, driving a little dune buggy, climbing up escalators, cascading along walls, hopping on ramps and zooming down past numerous stores. And my name was Luigi.

When I woke up I realized two things. First of all,  I am not a mall person and second, as far as I know, there are no malls close to me. Where did that dream come from?  Suddenly it dawned on me: The Super Mario Brothers.

I have actually been practicing the video game Mario Kart on my Wii (a gift from my daughter). My husband will tell you that I am a bit competitive, so my lack of skills at this race car game is bothersome. I know that playing Mario Kart is not top on my list of the things to do here in the Lowcountry, but evidently, my subconscious is telling me something. I must practice before I see my 5-year-old grandson Finnegan.

He is ruthless in the game and I can hear his voice the last time we played: “I have passed you again, Nina,” he smirks with those big dimples. How do I ever beat this kid? My player, Luigi, did not cooperate and my poor little dune buggy kept getting turned around and going backwards. I was totally out of my league with Finn as he soared past me multiple times and said  “I’m on lap 3.”

I was born in a generation where the most significant equivalent to a video game was a little portable plastic pinball machine. You pulled the red lever, the ball would snap out and your task was to maneuver the ball to the end of the maze. I think Cracker Jack had a miniature cardboard version of this game.

Now, I do think it is important for young children to know the thrill of winning but frankly, I think he is the one who should be deferring to me.

Hence my dreaming about a mall. But it dawned at me that I don’t need to go running around malls on a video game.  When Finn comes to visit, I will let him beat me a few times at the game. Then I will take him out for some memorable games, such as counting shooting stars, or seeing who can see the sun rise first at Hunting Beach or counting dolphins in the creek. Now those are games I can dream about.
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