on a wednesday afternoon

happy wednesday to you.

a little update on our goals to simplify out life.

we decided to do no tv/screens for the month of may.

okay it's not as simple as that.
aj and i use our computer and phones...email, work, tasks, blog, etc.

the boys are on no screens at all . . . because they don't have any work they need to be doing. :)

and you know there's always an exception to every rule, so we decided there would be some tv on the weekends.

i.e. aj and i watch some show or movie after the boys are in bed for a date-ish time on the weekends.
and we will probably do a movie & picnic night in the living room with the boys on some weekends.

it is going so great!
the boys are on board and haven't even asked about tv or wii or computer games!
that is crazy to me.
i have one certain child who asks to do a screen any time he has a free moment.

last weekend was our first weekend in May and the boys didn't watch one moment of television.
it wasn't that we said, no.
they just didn't even ask.
which is awesome after only a few days of being on no screens.
they actually seemed excited about it.

now, i will say, we don't watch a lot of tv in this house, anyway.
heck, we don't even have cable.
but i realized that the boys were asking more and more to do screens . . . like it was starting to be their go-to activity.
which annoys me because i think they need to use their mind and think of something fun to do.

so as you often have to do in life and especially in parenting, we needed to take a step back.

it has been fun to see them come up with creative activities.
finley has been listening to adventures in odyssey tapes, reading books, and making plays with avery.
avery has been drawing, reading & playing with finley.
sawyer has been (when he's not whining at me) coloring with markers, cutting papers, playing legos & playing with ruby.

and aj and i . . . well we always have a million things to do but it does really make us look forward to our weekends when we can cuddle together and eat a snack with a fun show (downton abbey, anyone?)

tv is one of those things that we are always re-evaluating.
i don't mind a little of it . . . as long as it supports what we are trying to teach our children.
but i don't ever want us to be dependent on it to entertain our children.
i want them to look out the window and see the world when we're driving down the road.
i want them to play outside and use their imagination.
i don't want them to be dependent on a tv or computer screen to keep them entertained.
you miss so much of actual living when you do.
but honestly, sometimes you just get tired and you go against your better judgement because it's easier.
and then you have to have a no-screens month to detox. :)


so far, i'm liking May just fine. :) Pin It