Angry Birds

I'd love to change my alarm to the theme of angry birds. It is the one sure thing that will catch my 7 year-old's attention and wake him up in the morning effortlessly.

Out of so many birds in the game - the red and powerless, the yellow with a zeal, the blue that splits itself into triplets, the parrot that U-turns, the white that drops an egg, what makes the black one that explodes like a bomb SW's favourite really beats me. "Because it blows things up" - that being the most powerful? Or because black is his favourite colour now (it used to be red, but red bird is "so lame").

Though we try to control his time on the game, I have to admit it is highly addictive having played it myself. In the beginning, I actually fought with him for "one more game", ignoring his laments, challenging myself to the next level till the battery goes flat. That was before I had to stop myself entirely so I could get on with life. It brings back memories of playing 'Poppey' and 'Octopus', not to forget the calculator with an 'n'. So, a parent who has been there knows how it is like! Proud to say that? Or perhaps that was how I got myopic?

So, we start to control playing time. Protecting eyesight is one of the reasons we give. But that certainly does little to stop this chap from thinking about the game. He goes about creating his own Angry Birds games: