Disclaimer: There are many concerns about kids and video games, and so I’ll state up-front that parents absolutely need to be familiar with the games that their children play and the ESRB ratings of those games. You should no more let your child play Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto than you should let that child watch Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead. Some media are just not meant for kids.

That said, I’m a gamer, and I’ve got the gaming tree to prove it. But whereas I started video gaming around age eight, my daughter has been exposed to video games for the bulk of her life. From her iXL to her Diego game on the Wii to the iPad games she plays, she’s never really known life without video games, as they’re easily as prevalent a form of entertainment as television in our household. (not at issue for this article, but all are secondary to good old books)

When I get home from work in the evenings, I generally have about an hour to spend with my four-year-old daughter before it’s time for dinner and then bedtime. Sometimes, we’ll play her favorite board game and sometimes we play with her Thomas the Train set, but I think her favorite thing to do with daddy is to play video games.

One that we’ve had an absolute ton of fun with is Super Mario Galaxy 2. We played a little bit of the first game in the series together, but I’d already finished the game when she was very young, and didn’t have it in me to start over. Mario Galaxy 2, however, I’ve never played without her. We’re nearly finished with the game, and she’s gotten very good at using the player 2 star to hold enemies still, collect 1-ups and coins, and throw star bits at enemies. She’s only 4, but having her play with me legitimately makes the game a lot easier.

For parents with older kids, reversing the roles might be fun. If your kid can handle those crazy jumps and accurately pilot Mario through a level, let him! Take over the player 2 star yourself and do what you can to help him stay alive.

Mario Galaxy 2 is a fabulous game for parents and kids to play together, but although we’ve loved it, it’s not my daughter’s favorite. Her favorite is Zelda: Twilight Princess. I’m not sure how this came to be, but she’d rather watch my second playthrough of the game than do nearly anything else. When there are areas devoid of enemies, she likes to run around, often as wolf-Link, digging up coins. Elsewise, she loves to watch me navigate dungeons and talk to NPCs