1.02.2010

hold me to it

2010 will be the year of no television in our family.

We've wasted enough time in front of it to last us at least that long.

It will be a year of books and the occasional movie on the weekends.

It will be a year of scripture study and preschool.

It will be a year of early to bed and early to rise.

It will be a year of purpose.

We decided all this today in our planning meeting.

In September of this year Jack will go to school.

That makes my heart ache and my shoulders tense.

Only nine months left to enjoy the solitude of minimal interaction with the outside world.

I'm not a hermit.  Maybe I am a little.

But I tend to like my schedule to cater to only my whims.

I plan on making the most of it.

And checking out many books about seperation anxiety.

For myself, because I'm not sure I can handle it, even if it is only for half a day.


How do you do it?  Tenderly raise a little boy with the utmost care and then send him out into the world where anything can happen?   He may get teased or come home saying garbage words.

So I will spend the next nine months purposefully immersing myself into my life as it is now without wasting any of the precious time.

And trying to become brave enough to deal with that bridge crossing when I get there.

So no TV this year.

There's just no time to waste.

9 comments:

  1. I can tell you are about to have a most interesting year. I smiled when I read about your upcoming separation anxiety...reminds me so much of myself!

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  2. I could not survive without tv, no that's a lie, but I am so impressed and inspired by your resolutions! I have daymared(?) about having to live without all my men for 8hrs/day and it breaks my heart. I'm sure you won't have any problems sticking to your resolutions and will never regret missing that season of Lost or whatever because you made that many more memories with your boys.

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  3. http://delplife.blogspot.com/2008/11/favicon.html

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  4. Wow! Good luck with all that. It takes a very brave or crazy mom to get rid of TV.

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  5. Wow!! I'd love to get rid of TV but I'm too much of a chicken...how do you fill the day??

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  6. Yeah, WOW! I don't think I could get dinner ready every night without turning on a Disney sing along DVD for Lu. Wow. But I do see how some of Lu's days are just wasted with too many shows while I am trying to "get things done" around the house. Good luck, and if you eventually cave in and turn on Backyardigans for the boys, I won't think any less of you! :)

    PS We want to come up and play, as soon as Leah's cough doesn't sound like a hacking smoker's cough.

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  7. I'm not against putting a movie on for the boys if I really need to. But we are canceling cable and not watching TV at all ourselves. Kev and I tend to watch too much at night and if I turn it on for myself during the day my life crumbles around me. The boys get cranky and my house gets messy. If I turn it on for the boys they want more and more. If I leave it off, they forget about it and play with eachother more. So far we're sticking to it and we have been reading a lot more and I'm excited to start a little preschool for the older 3. It will take more planning on my part, but I'm excited to see what comes of it. I really think it is a much needed change around here. We're aiming high and taking it a day at a time.

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  8. Good for you! And way to put it out there for accountability purposes, LOL.

    Have you considered homeschooling? Might help with that separation anxiety thing. ;-)

    FWIW, we homeschool, so I confess I do allow DVDs and computer games from time to time. A rare PBS program helps, especially Friday during my homemade pizza-making regimen. But I figure my kids are stuck with me 24/7, and a little screen time is OK for all of us...but the key is a LITTLE! And no cable TV here, either. Neither my hubby nor I would want to pay for something we would use so little.

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  9. Sounds like an awesome goal! We don't have TV at our house, just videos and it makes a huge difference. The kids in school hardly ever even watch videos except on weekends and the younger ones settle in to watch one video in the afternoon for "quiet time" (that's when I try to nap). Good luck with your goals this year. I'm sure your son will be just fine at school. Most kindergarten teachers and students are loving and kind and he'll thrive.

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