The TV/Wii-free Week

Last Saturday, Rob and I decided to check our Wii and see how much time we had spent on it that day. Our jaws dropped as we saw that between the four of us who play, we logged over six hours just that day alone! We looked backwards over the previous two weeks and saw that most days were under two hours, but that's still not good. So we made a little agreement--that we would try a week w/o any DVD's or Wii playing. We haven't had any TV channels since Matthew was one, but we were certainly plunking in the DVD's more that we care to admit--even to each other.

The kids were less than thrilled about the new arrangement and spent two-three days following me around the house. I started playing some CD's for them and they just sat in the dining room and listened. Pathetic. My children normally rip all over the house and play when the TV is on, but couldn't come up with much of anything to do without it. I am happy to say that they are now playing with toys they haven't paid attention to in a long time and just drag one of the speakers into the living room. They have a new love for Patch the Pirate and can work a tape deck. (I wonder how many of their peers even know what a tape deck is??)

Our biggest challenge came Tuesday night. We had agreed to babysit for some friends of ours who were attending a visitation up north for a youth pastor who was killed in a car accident. (If you think of it, pray for the Tobin family--his wife is left with three young children to raise.) My normal plan would include watching a movie toward the evening, but Rob and I decided we needed to stick to our plan. Thankfully, he came home right before they arrived so I had help. The three older children played outside, played in the toyroom, played games, and had a marvelous time. The younger girls had a good time as well, until little Maddie, age one, found Anna's special baby dolls. Miss Anna wasn't all too happy about it, but we made her share one of them. We also took a trip to the library, which was loads of fun.

So here's my assessment after one week of no TV or Wii: I like it. My children are calmer overall, they play together better than before, they get into less trouble, their attention spans have lengthened, and they walk around singing songs about cleaning their room and obeying right away. I've decided to add more "school" to our day, playing learning games, doing Brain Quest cards, and other activities. The change is astounding. We have already decided to leave movies for special family times, illnesses, and the doldrums of winter. Wii is for family time and winter (we have the Wii Fit, which has a running course on it that the boys can do for excercise.) although Rob and I will probably use it more regularlly.

On a different note, Anna has two songs on her blacklist: Away in a Manger and Rock-a-bye Baby. Sing them to her and she'll instantly start crying. I'm thinking that she thinks we're talking about doing something mean to her baby dolls, but I'm not sure. The boys amused themselves the other day by forcing her to stay upstairs and singing to her. Poor little girl!