Well, you may notice more sporadic posts as we adjust to our new house rule...
very, very limited, nearly non-existent screen time.
The fight has progressed all summer to get AJ and Abby away from screens and up being active.
We set a two show a day limit and limited computer time, but
every time I would come downstairs from switching a load of laundry or come back from picking one part of the house...
they would have an iphone, an ipad, be on the computer, or have the TV back on.
Then they started developing an attitude with me about it...
you know that lovely preschool yelling back talk with complete and total illogical reasoning.
"I HAVE TO WATCH THIS SHOW TO BE READY FOR MY MEETING!"
What meeting? You are five.
Anything that makes my children yell at me
is.not.something.they.need.in.their.lives.
When they would play, it was simply re-enacting a TV episode they had seen.
When they would talk to people, people would look at them like they were crazy because it was something from a cartoon that had nothing to do with anything in the context of the real world.
Their abilities to have independent thought and entertain themselves was rapidly decreasing.
I.was.done.
done.
DONE, I tell ya!
And when this pregnant, hormonal woman is done with something...
things happen rather fast around here.
So we turned off the cable and hide the iphones and computers during the day.
Guess what?
They didn't shrivel up and die.
They do not bug me constantly that they are bored.
They run, ride bikes, play in the sand box, play in the basement toy room, "read" books,
paint, color, use their imaginations,
build forts...
very, very limited, nearly non-existent screen time.
The fight has progressed all summer to get AJ and Abby away from screens and up being active.
We set a two show a day limit and limited computer time, but
every time I would come downstairs from switching a load of laundry or come back from picking one part of the house...
they would have an iphone, an ipad, be on the computer, or have the TV back on.
Then they started developing an attitude with me about it...
you know that lovely preschool yelling back talk with complete and total illogical reasoning.
"I HAVE TO WATCH THIS SHOW TO BE READY FOR MY MEETING!"
What meeting? You are five.
Anything that makes my children yell at me
is.not.something.they.need.in.their.lives.
When they would play, it was simply re-enacting a TV episode they had seen.
When they would talk to people, people would look at them like they were crazy because it was something from a cartoon that had nothing to do with anything in the context of the real world.
Their abilities to have independent thought and entertain themselves was rapidly decreasing.
I.was.done.
done.
DONE, I tell ya!
And when this pregnant, hormonal woman is done with something...
things happen rather fast around here.
So we turned off the cable and hide the iphones and computers during the day.
Guess what?
They didn't shrivel up and die.
They do not bug me constantly that they are bored.
They run, ride bikes, play in the sand box, play in the basement toy room, "read" books,
paint, color, use their imaginations,
build forts...
and play together.
All of this helping maintain my sanity and saving $65 a month.
Why didn't I do this months ago?!
2 comments:
Ha ha, I love this idea! However, the biggest tantrum-thrower about TV in our house is my husband, lol. Thankfully Liam is small enough I can simply turn off the TV to limit his time with it. I'm also trying out a two-show-a-day limit. But on days I clean the house, I have to pop in a movie. Hoping I can keep this TV rule going when he gets older and more demanding.
Wooohooo! I'm jealous (cuz Jim just extended ours with a 2 year contract) and so excited for you and the kiddos. I miss the days of only one channel (NBC). My kids didn't need stuff from the store as much as they thought they did with more TV and they did just like yours- played with each other and were active!
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