MILLIGAN: Balancing Mother's Day and Zelda

I put in my preorder and was prepared to grab the game out of the mail Friday afternoon after work and retreat to my room and sink into Hyrule without pause until Monday and the new work week forced me out of my self-imposed exile.

Unfortunately, there’s just one wrinkle in this otherwise well thoughout plan.

Sunday, it turns out, is Mother’s Day.

And while there are few things I can profess to love more than Zelda, I’m generally sure my mother is one of them.

So, before I even had my hands on the game, I was already having to adjust my plans to fit in a bit of time to celebrate my mother and her long-suffering child-rearing that made me the man I am today.

After all, I considered. I can probably stop five to 10 minutes to emerge back into the real world and give my mom a cheap greeting card and an awkward hug.

I might could even spare a full half hour! After all, by that point the Switch would probably need a good recharge anyway.

Apparently, though, that’s not good enough.

Now my sister is telling me we’re having lunch at her house on Sunday to commemorate Mother’s Day and make her feel as special as she has been to us, her often ungrateful offspring.

That’s a great idea. Very thoughtful.

Could we do it next week?

No. It’s gotta be this Sunday.

So now I’m taking a few hours away from my inaugural attempt to save Hyrule on this go-round to fete my mother with a slightly more invovled celebration than my previous attempt.

I tried to argue it was a big excessive. I’d already bought her a Mother’s Day present, after all. I was even happy to help pay for lunch.

But couldn’t I just show up for that awkward hug and then beat it back to my game?

The answer once again came back no.

So, despite my best efforts to dedicate this entire weekend to Zelda, I will be spending a few precious hours with my family to celebrate my mother and her putting up with the sort of son who’s itching to ditch her party and go play a silly video game.

Don’t worry about her, she’s used to my shenanigans.

She’s also used to my frequent bursts of hyperbole and ironic detachment and sees through just about all of it by now.

So, with the proper amounts of enthusiasm and filial love, I wish her a very happy Mother’s Day.

Now can I get back to Zelda, Mom?

Stephen Milligan is news editor of The Walton Tribune. Email comments to stephen.milligan@ waltontribune.com.