I made a decision that has not been very popular in our house. I have turned off all electronics during the week. No videos, video games, computer or TV. We are at the beginning of the second week of this new rule. And it is great! I kinda lost it and had enough of being ignored because everyone's heads were stuck to screens (which makes me invisible you know.) So I lost it last week and you know what? It is working. We are getting things done that need to be done.
Another great thing that has come from this is PLAY. Can you imagine? Play without any electonics. We have made Lego space ships and even played outside until dark. I am sticking with this rule even through the summer.
Monday, when the kids were out of school, we decided since it was raining to go do something fun. There is a new McDonald's in a neighboring town with a great indoor playground. Being in a different county, those kids had to go to school. We had the whole playground to ourselves. It was great. We played for about an hour and then headed out. On the way home we decided to go check out the World Of Energy. (This is a museum type thing that is at the Nuclear Plant) It was great!
They had a small table with several activities and 3 video games that related to energy.
Jack put together several puzzles. 
The other three built towers with Brio Blocks.You can walk through the whole building and you push buttons and it turns on videos and other things and tells you about how the nuclear plant generates power.
It started out in a room that looks like you are in space. I couldn't get a good picture. But you get the idea.The little kids would've been bored quickly but we kept moving. 
Most of the pictures I took turned out pretty blurry because of the crazy lights. It helped that there were not many people there. 
We had a lot of fun and I got this picture at the end of the walk through tour in front of the fish pond. I love this picture because everyone is smiling. The picture is a little fuzzy but I still like it. We had a fun day with no TV. We did watch "The Secret Life of Bees" on Monday night. This movie was great but not really a kid movie. It was a little deep for the kids. And the language wasn't great either.To end this post, Iwant to share a short story about Zane and no tv. Zane loves movies and he was probably the one most affected by this unplugging. But I knew that I had made the right decision after Zane told me this.
Zane's friend that he takes guitar lessons with on Thursdays got into some trouble at school last week. His mom chewed him out all the way to guitar and Zane was in the car with them. The mom told her son that he wouldn't be allowed to watch any tv or play any video games for the week. The son was very upset. But Zane, trying to comfort him, said, "It's really not that bad. We don't get to watch tv or play any video games on school days. You can always read a book." So I guess they do get it!
6 comments:
my son lost all of his tv, computer, video games etc over the summer last year for some bad decisions he made...he spent the summer playing more with the other kids and being more involved with the family as a whole. i wish i had made it permanent. i really need to do a major limit to the time they all spend on that electronic stuff. good for you!
We are beginning to do that in our house too. We resisted the pleas for a DS or a Wii at Christmas. Being at home because of homeschooling, the temptation (and nagging and whining) are there all day long, every day. The DirecTv is going, too. Hopefully the detox won't be too bad! LOL! Great idea on your part!
We put the TV in the closet in Febrary of 2008 for one month. It is still there. We saw such great results not only in our kids but in our time as a couple. We still watch movies once in awhile but no cable and I don't even miss it and nor do they.
PS Found you through Marian's blog.
Thats a good thing. Good for you. We don't allow the video games and computer on school days either...maybe I should try the whole summer too!
Bravo for you and the kids! Mine don't watch too much and when it's nice outside, like it is now, they had rather be out there. I use no tv and no video games as punishment.
Looks like you had fun at the Duke place, we need to take our kids there some day.
It's a great idea. My kids finally learned to ride their bikes they've had for 2 years. They are learning card games, croquet, and developing relationships with other kids in the hood.
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