Becoming a PokeMom: Pokemon Go's One-Year Anniversary

One year ago today, as we were driving home from the wild west back to St. Louis, Missouri, I finally gave in to the online frenzy of the previous few days and caved to my then-8-year-old's begging, and I downloaded the Pokemon Go app. 

And life has never been quite the same since. 

 Ha! Okay, that was a little dramatic. I mean, for the most part, life has carried on as usual, and it was really the introduction of Larkin into our family seven weeks later that REALLY shook up our life as we knew it. But Pokemon Go, man. Who knew?!! 

It was an app that needed to be on a phone, so of course I had to host the game for Noah, since he doesn't have his own phone. In the first few days, I had NO IDEA who all these Pokemon were. I mean, I'd been forced to pretend to listen to Noah ramble on and on (and on and on and on) about Pokemon for over two years already at this point, so this wasn't a new realm of geekdom for him. But I'd mostly tuned it all out until this game. And because I was the steward of the game, I slowly began learning how to play it. And to learn how to play it, you really have to start learning the Pokemon names. And evolutions. And which ones are awesome and which ones are lame. 

And before I knew it, I was more addicted than Noah. I played more than him. I got territorial over MY Pokemon and when to evolve and when to save up candy and whether or not we should waste our time fighting at Pokemon gyms (pro tip: I should've wasted more time fighting at Pokemon gyms. I disregarded that whole half of the game for a whole 11 months, and in the 12th month they've changed it up and gym skills are suddenly REALLY important for "catching them all". Argh.) 

I just.... slowly but surely, I became obsessed with "catching them all." 

You can laugh. I am laughing at myself. 

But the truth is, it's been a super fun year. SO FUN. I've loved becoming a PokeMom, a PokeGeek... I love piling the kids in the car to go hunting. I love the friendships that have blossomed around this pastime. I love seeing my littler kiddos get good at catching Pokemon and rattling off the names and the evolutions. We've seen art and gardens in St. Louis we'd have never found otherwise. We've found countless new parks and playgrounds. I have ZERO regrets over the time and gas mileage I've wasted playing this ridiculous(ly fun) game. 

So Happy 1-Year Anniversary, Pokemon Go. Thanks for giving us a chance to be "the very best, like no one ever was." We have completely enjoyed the ride. 

♥

(Now back to the grind. Current "Bucket List" items for us, at nearly level-32: Working on finding an unown, walking our larvitar to get enough candy to evolve a Tyranitar, and praying they finally release some Legendaries into the game. I mean, a YEAR? It's time.)