Thursday, April 2, 2009

No TV Update

So, last week I posted about entertaining the little owls without resorting to the TV. The truth is, it's exhausting (hence the infrequent blog posts since then). But, we've made it a whole week. The rule is no TV during the day. And since they go to bed not long after supper, it pretty much means we can only watch a movie for Family Night (last night's movie was Return of The Jedi). The new rule was met with much less resistance than anticipated. Which is always a plus. Even J, who was wont to start his day with "can I watch a show" has stopped even asking. He has even reminded K of the rule a few times. It does help that our tv is in an armoire with doors, and we just keep them closed during the day.

But man, am I tired. I had to be the activity director ALOT the first few days. This is where it was nice that a chunk of our mornings at least are taken up with school work. And thank goodness for the nice spring weather we've been having since the rain of last Thursday.

Overall, I am really excited we've made it this far. I have this crazy love-hate relationship with TV viewing for the kids. J didn't watch any TV at all until K was born. And then, it was like the flood gates opened and we had a TV free-for-all. And we've been trying to stem the tide ever since. At one point, it had gotten so bad that J (4 at the time) would lock the door to our temporary apartment when I was walking the dogs, so that he could scam a few minutes of watching PBS (we didn't even have cable at the time) while I hollered and fumbled with my keys in the ice and snow, trying to let myself back in. Ahhh, those were the days.

But since we've made it a week, I know we can make it another week. And then another. We'll see how long we can keep it going. My blog posting may suffer, but it's all for the greater good, right?

For a fun read about going TV free, check here.

2 comments:

  1. Good job! I don't think my kids could unplug - it would be impossible. That said, they don't watch too much tv for the most part. Certainly less now that it's getting to be spring here. We watch a movie in the afternoons - because I have a house full of boys and if I don't settle them down with a movie I may just lose my mind.

    The kids are usually too busy in the evenings to watch more than 30 minutes of tv.

    I admire you for even attempting that. :)

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  2. Well done! I promise each day gets easier! However, that said, there are times when I need the kids to watch a movie and they do.

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