Look, I’ma be straight with you here: when Pokémon Go was announced, I was the person whose eyes rolled out of her head and down the street.

I couldn’t get behind the hype, I wasn’t feeling the excitement and (if I’m being totally honest), I still think it’s absolutely ridiculous that people are trespassing, walking into traffic and getting into stranger’s vehicles in the name of catching something that doesn’t actually exist.

Since it launched over the summer while F had limited access to other kids and iPhones, I was able to enjoy three blissful, Poké-free months. And then he found out about it and the requests began.

I wish *I* had an iPhone so *I* could play Pokémon Go. It’s so cool.

Mama, can I borrow your phone sometimes and you can just put Pokémon Go on there and I’ll be really good and give your phone back and be careful?

Will you download Pokémon Go just so I can see what it looks like? I’ve never seen it.

It was bound to happen, I suppose, so while suffering a hangover and watching Straight Outta Compton (sidenote: AH-MAY-ZING Z’OMG.) with RomCom on a Saturday night, I gave in. In fairness, I’d never seen the app and I was curious to know what it looked like. I caught a Bulbasaur that was sitting on my coffee table and put it away.

After school on Monday, I decided to hand F my phone (I’m brave like that) and let him try to “catch ’em all” as we walked home. He caught four Pokémon and, aside from the occasional worry that my spawn was about to drop my phone and wreck it, I actually had fun watching him play.

So much of parenting for me has been about letting go: letting go of fear and uncertainty; letting go of the seriousness; letting go of the sadness or the stress and sometimes just letting F take the lead. It’s about letting go of the guilt of unwashed dishes and getting down on the floor with cars and trucks, or turning a blind eye to the growing mountain of laundry when there are snuggles to be had. And it’s about handing him my phone, putting on our running shoes and hitting the trails to find a Charizard, or so I’m told.

And it’s about handing him my phone, putting on our running shoes and hitting the trails to find a Charizard, or so I’m told.

(But I still think you’re an idiot who deserves to be run over if you walk into oncoming traffic because you want to catch a Pokémon that only exists on your phone.)