John Madden, my hero.

Recently we've had a few setbacks at Chez 6 pack. Blended families are tricky sometimes. I mean, Mike and Carol had it sooo easy, what with Alice and the groovy wood-paneled station wagon. In real life, it's often an arduous journey and this past month Brett and Curt have been having a rough go of it.

They love each other, and by and large get along very well; but sometimes they have a hard time really relating to each other. And, lately it seems they've been struggling.

I don't think it helps that they're so different. Curt's very structured and disciplined. Brett is so not. If left to his own devices, he'd happily sleep until noon, then spend the day in pajamas playing video games, maybe remembering to break for sustenance.

Then, a small miracle happened. For Christmas the boys were given a Madden 2008 game for the Wii.

Curt isn't much of a video game person, but he loves football. Brett's tends to be an inside sort of kid (Did you know there are bugs out there?), but he'd play tiddlywinks all day if it was done with a controller and a nunchuck.

At first Brett's interest was mild. He'd sit on the couch while Curt played by himself, or as he played with Mike. Then he started giving Mike pointers. "If you're already down by 24 and it's fourth and inches, you might as well go for it." he'd say.

And then tonight, it happened. Brett put down his book, slid over on the couch, and played a game with his step dad.

He was the Green Bay Packers (he's a big Farve fan) and Curt was the Pittsburgh Steelers. They talked smack about their teams. They traded play tips. They were smiling and joking.





At one point, Curt took a break to help me bathe Elle and instead of the usual flirting with his wife and daughter, all he talked about was how good Brett was. He mixes up his plays, he really understands the game, he tells me. Curt's eyes were all lit up, he could hardly wait to get back to Brett.

I know it's a small thing. It's just a video game. And, with my ovaries and all, I can't think of a more mind numbing way to spend an evening; even if Ben Roethisburger does have a nice pixelated tush.

But I do know that two of the people that I love more than life itself spent an hour together tonight, mended some fences, had some fun, formed a bond, and made my heart a little lighter.

Oh yeah. Packers 83, Steelers 80.