I think I knew about my kids addiction about 2 years ago. At that time I just blew it off thinking it was a fluke and the unlikely chance that it would develop into a problem seemed impossible. My father developed his addiction after his leg was broken and he was off work. It lasted for many years until one day he just up and stopped. I never learned why he was able to quit like he did but I was proud of him. My Mom had the addiction though out my child hood but it never seem to totally control her. She was able to carry on a normal life with her soap alcoholic addiction. Hers has stopped now because the soap operas has been cancelled and are being replaced with reality talk show or some other daytime television program that as a working person I cannot get into due to the fact I’m not home during the day. The two girls came and realized that they could find YouTube videos from their country in their language Then they came up on Korean soap operas. Again it’s not their language and they cannot use the computers very well so I am not worried. The computer got the last virus and I swore I was not fixing another computer. The blame game became very intense as to who killed the computer and to keep blood from flowing I got them all their own laptops. I cautioned them to take care and not let anyone barrow or use their laptops because if they break or you down load a virus I am not fixing them. The first thing was face book the second was Korean soap operas. They went to their rooms and watched the things all afternoon and night. After two months I told them they had to come out of their rooms and become members of this house again. The first thing was to get the Korean exchange student to translate them for the girls. Again I am not liking this but now the laptops are dying OK I can see the light at the end of this. Last week I hear all the girls in the living room laughing and screaming. Wow had not heard that for awhile, not all of them together for a long time. After a while I go to the kitchen to get sustenance and I peek in on the girls to see what’s up. To my surprise they have found a channel on the satellite TV that plays Korean soaps. Later that night its past 12:30 and I hear someone in the living room. I went to investigate as it is a school night and the kids all die around 9 or 10. I get up to the living room and there she is watching the damn soaps. Oh Hell no, go to bed you’re not going to stay up all night watching these things. Then she goes up stairs to get her computer because she needed to take care of some home work. The ranting that I was spewing was that of a person having a psychotic break. After the kid went to bed I had to breath because I had totally lost it. So Sunday night comes and all of them are watching these things. We have 5 languages spoke in the home and only the exchange students can speak Korean. So how do these girls get hooked on them. Sub titles in English are being read by the others. The exchange student is doing homework, She says that it’s good that it’s in her language because she does not have to read just listen and she can do her home work. I am teasing them now telling them they can’t read that fast and the exchange student is doing home work how can they know what is going on. Then one of them shows me the remote and tells me that they just run it back and pause it so they can read it.
I clearly see that the addiction is compulsive at this point and I am never going to watch the big TV any more, I will be squinting at the 12” TV for life. Who knew that soaps in any language are addicting, as I have never had this addiction. Do they have a 12 step for soap opera addictions?
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