Once again, I am attempting to keep the kids off the screen for a week. Yes, it is TV Turnoff Week (which applies only to the kids in this household; we pull rank when necessary).
Day one down. Six more to go. Last year, I don’t think I included the computer in this experiment but, for some reason, I did this time. This means that I have to wait until the kids are totally engrossed before I check my email so as not to out myself as “Not Playing Along”.
Now the timing could be better. We finally got our exercise bike set up which means that I need to log some serious peddling time if I’m going to fit into the 2-piece bathing suit I just bought. Normally, I’d just let the kids watch a show while I try to whittle four months of winter inactivity from my body. Not possible now. Instead, they went into the living room and dumped forty pounds of blocks onto the floor, constructed forts out of all the chair cushions AND pulled out all the Polly Pockets for a marathon session of “change Polly’s wee clothes”.
Then, there was D. After finishing the destruction of my living room, he came into the family room and stood next to me as I huffed and puffed and blew the house down.
“Mommy? Mommy?”
“Yes, D. 10 more minutes. Just 10 minutes!”
“Red Apple Mommy. Mommy?”
“OK! 9 minutes! No problem. Just wait 9 minutes!”
This went on and on and on until I had to crank up the sound in the headphones and close my eyes, lest I leap across the handlebars screaming, “FIVE MINUTES! I JUST NEED FIVE STINKIN‘ MINUTES!”
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Yes, TV Turnoff Week is a wonderful idea. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m missing Intervention.
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