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I’ve worked in PR for many years, but I’m starting to think that I’ve never really left my life as a “spin”. You see, if you read this blog, you can get a distorted feeling for my existence. For example, it may look like I’m a practical mom with one Maria von Trapp Complex that leads your children to an endless round of healthy outdoor activities.
You would be wrong.
In fact, my kids watch TV a lot, play endless games on the Wii, and know computers and the world of Nintendo DS more than just temporarily. Of course, like most mothers, I’ve developed a deep sense of guilt that I’ve learned to live with, just as I’ve learned to live with most other troubling thoughts – by diligently ignoring them.
Then a few months ago I read about a woman who led her family in a technology-free month. “Wow,” I thought. “This is impressive,” I thought. “We should in order to do that, “I thought.
Of course, I’m nothing if not a realist, and I knew that a month would drive it forward. Like a week. Or a whole weekend. But a day a month is a start, isn’t it? I also didn’t want to shock the kids with too much cold turkey.
So we informed the kids about the plan earlier this week and made it sound exciting (as I said, you can take the girl out of PR …). Then on Saturday night I unplugged the TV and Wii and packed away the laptops and put the DS out of sight before going to bed.
So how did it go?
Well, my biggest worry was Archie, who was overwhelmed by something on the screen at three and a half years. He will change the wallpaper on my iPhone daily and take some impressively complex steps Just dance Wii and like to recite the dialogue from Tangled – his current film of choice – at the breakfast table (and believe me “I am the lost princess, am I not?“Screaming over the cereal bowls doesn’t make for a relaxing meal).
But surprisingly, it didn’t seem to bother him. After realizing that none of the tellies worked and got a quick no to other screen requests, he followed his siblings outside. Here they talked for a while – mainly with the production of “magic mixtures”.
For the uninitiated “magic mixtures” it is actually just buckets of water to which sand, earth, feathers, branches and general garden waste are added and mixed together. The prefix “magic” is obviously just proof that the talent for positive spin is contained in the genes.
There was also some insect hunt, trampoline, flower arrangement, painting, reading, playing with expensive dwarf animals (or Sylvan families as they are more traditionally known), but in an “entertaining time” against “parental effort”, magic blends were at the top of the survey.
As such, I now wonder how I can continue to use this Nintendo alternative. A little online research showed me that I really need a mud cake kitchen. Like this:
Source: Rhythm of the house
Or this:
Source: The child’s paper
Or even that:
Source: Pepper colors
A perfect way to keep the kids entertained without a screen in sight.
Unfortunately, the other problem with & # 39; Screen Free Sunday “… me.
You see, while the kids were fine, I had to be told (several times) that “No, you can’t look it up on the computer”, “Yes, an iPhone still counts as a screen” and most depressingly of all “Sorry, but you just have to record that Be sure to come dance Show results. ”
It was torture.
