As a Mother's Day/Father's Day gift to each other, my wife and I bought a Wii and Wii Fit. This was not like us. We are not video game people. In 14 years we've never had a video game console in the house (though we did go through a Shanghai phase on the PC before kids). And the Wii/Wii Fit combo doesn't come cheap. But we'd both been counting calories, trying to slim down a bit. So we justified the expense - as others must - as a sort of in-home gym membership.

The trick is: how to spend time playing games/working out in front of the TV without the kids wanting to join in?

Of course, you can't. A video game purchase is a family phenomenon. Still, we like to think we're pretty responsible about limiting screen time. We allow the kids three “cartoon days” each week, in which they get to watch an hour of Scooby Doo or Looney Tunes. Plus we have a family “movie night” each weekend, when we all eat popcorn together in front of a Disney flick. And that had basically been it.

With the Wii, we've had to adjust and expand. If the kids want to fire up the Wii to bowl or hula hoop instead of cartoons, they have that choice. Also, once or twice a week we'll gather before bedtime for a few minutes of family Wii exercise - everybody marvels at Mommy's rhythmic boxing, Jocelyn's ski jumps, Zoe on the slalom, and Dad tottering off the tightrope.

Because the balance and aerobic games are tricky for a four-year-old, Jocelyn has taken to yoga poses. She loves to thrust out her back leg, stretch her arms, balance and breathe for 20 seconds, and thus rack up her share of fitness credits. This has proven to have unexpected benefits.

One recent weekend we arrived at a rented cottage for a wedding, and needed to take a quick walk to the grocery store. This was an agonizing prospect for Jocelyn, who had a gargantuan meltdown. She refused in the loudest possible terms, she cried and screamed and stormed. I am not always as patient as I would like to be in these situations. I suspect that I resort too quickly to threats - i.e., “keep this up and no candy for you this evening!”

But this time, instead, I got her to listen long enough for me to explain that her tantrums would not change our need for juice and milk and dinner; and that we needed her to calm down in order to move forward. And then, remembering the Wii, I suggested that she take a few minutes on her own to practice Deep Breathing (the most basic of the Wii Yoga exercises) in order to settle down. And she agreed! She took herself upstairs, still blubbering and fuming. Moments later, she was standing in her room, inhaling and exhaling, hands over her stomach, mirroring the pose of the Wii Fit trainer. Then she emerged, collected and ready for our walk.

And I had discovered a keen new admiration for yoga.