Ever since my younger (barely teenagers - yes, huge age gap) sisters came for a visit all my kids want are electronics. Both of my sisters have iPhones and iPads with slews of games and constant passive entertainment that ate glued to them. My kids became glued, too.
Now, I don't have an iPad, but I do have an iPhone for work. There were a couple of kid apps on there to keep them entertained during long waits when we were out, but that's it. The past month, my kids have been obsessed with my phone. Stealing it and hiding it from me. When they can't do that it's been wanting to watch a movie. I don't always let them, but that doesn't stop them from begging and fixating.
I'm not saying watching movies is bad. But little kids should not spend their days vegging out in front of the tv. We have an entire playroom full of toys that they don't even touch any more. It's an obsession to be entertained and not be creative and entertain themselves.
So, it goes at the garage sale with the DVD player. We still have the laptop to watch movies occasionally. But it's no longer going to be all they focus on.
A detox, if you will. Yup, I'm one of those crazy conservatives who thinks kids should he kids for as long as possible and enjoy the outside (when it's not 312000 degrees ).
In other news, here are some pictures from this morning. The boys and I play outside/ walk the cul de sac after dropping Sissy off in the morning.
I totally understand. Every time my kids come back from certain family members houses it seems like all they want to do is play video games or watch movies. We have to do frequent detoxes, in fact, we are currently going through one - the older boys haven't been allowed to play a video game or watch a movie for going on four days now because all they were doing was begging us to go in the basement and play on the wii. It seems like 3-4 days without it is just enough time for them to forget about it and develop other "habits". Now all they want to do is play outside and keep begging us to go in the backyard, even right when they wake up in the morning before breakfast. It will last until the next time they hang out with their cousins or grandparents, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteAs far as getting rid of the TV completely, I've gone back and forth on it for years. My husband always talks me out of it. I do find value in the TV at certain times - when I am sick and need to occupy the children while getting rest, or when I have a new baby. We also live in a colder climate during half of the year and can't go outside with a baby when it's freezing. After a week of cabin fever from being copped up inside, being able to watch a video now and then keeps us sane, I think.
I also find value in it with homeschooling, as we rent DVDs from the library that are helpful (we're watching one on dinosaurs tonight). We don't have any tablets and my phone doesn't play videos or anything. My laptop doesn't even have the ability to play a DVD, so having one in the house is necessary for us at certain times. If your laptop can play videos for you, I think you can survive :)