It's Father's Day, so I'm reflecting on being a father. I am grateful for my son. At the moment, he, more than anyone or anything else, is helping me grow. He lets me know when I am not being present. He shows me that I am really not as patient as I like to think I am. He humbles me, and in doing so, shows me where I might improve. And I want to. For his sake and for mine and for everyone's. I love him dearly.

He's showing an increasing interest in games now. He plays Pac Man on my PS3, Tinker on my PC, and a pile of iOS games on my iPod Touch. I think Zen Pinball, Tekken Bowl, and Ninjatown: Trees of Doom are his current favourites.

And I'm coming to the point where I have to start making decisions about how to guide his gaming. Do I need to put limits on his game play? What kind of limits?

My parents never put any gaming limits on me. And I think I turned out all right, even as I grew up with games like Doom and Mortal Kombat. But now that I'm the parent, and now that the games are Gears of War and the Mortal Kombat reboot, I'm less sure about just letting my son just go to it on his own.

It's clear to me at the moment, now that he's only three. There are certain games I don't want him playing, and I don't want him spending his whole weekend with my iPod. But what about when he's seven? Or twelve? Or fifteen? When do I hand it all over to him and say, "It's up to you to figure out the balance now"?

I know I still have a few more years to think of the answer, but it's been on my mind on and off since my son was born. And I'm still no clearer on what the right answer is.

Anyway. Happy Father's Day to other gamer dads. And to everyone else, Happy GameSpotting!

aerobie