As part of my effort to get the children to participate in household chores, I have been having Charles help me with Alice’s computer addiction. Charles is capable of operating the games that Alice likes, which means that I can get a little work done even with Alice on my lap (and that’s why I need two computers in my office, dear!). However, this isn’t a complete solution as Charles has become old to have the same tolerance for repition as Alice does and he gets “tie-warred” eventually. Alice gets tired too (although not as fast as Charles). The key indicator is when Alice wants to switch games as fast as Mom channel surfs. At that point I cut her off — after all, I am a responsible parent.