I probably won’t win any parenting awards today

The boys sat in front of the tv for no less than 6 hours today because I declared it an official “media day”.

I’ve never really had to put a lot of controls on their tv and video game time.  During the school year, we are busy enough that it’s not really an issue.  And, since I’m married to a man who I think is pretty great and also loves to play video games, it’s not like I’m completely against them.  Sure, the kids play, but it’s never been obsessive. Well, suddenly this summer, they have both decided that the only thing they like to do at home is sit in front of the tv. Connor even shed real tears one day over the injustice of his December birthday and how he gets so many toys in December and now he doesn’t have anything he likes to play with and he has to wait all the way until Christmas to get new toys. I just don’t know where this kid gets his dramatic streak from (ha.)  Anyway, the drama and the tears and the fights all led to me putting my foot down: you must exercise your mind before you exercise your thumbs, and you only get 1 hour of video game time per day.  It’s worked pretty well (for the most part.)

But today…okay, really it was last week…I think we hit the summer wall.  We are hot, tired, bored, and ready to get back into our fall routine.  Last week was a tough week for all of us.  I woke up this morning with a little bit of dread in the pit of my stomach.  What on earth were we going to do all day?  I decided to declare it Play as Many Video Games as You Want Day.   There were a few ground rules.  The free for all was only good as long as the boys didn’t fight with each other and kept their hands and bodies in control.

Logan started playing video games and watching tv at 9:00.  He lasted until 3:00.  Honestly, I was shocked at how long he lasted!  Connor made it until 2:00 and then began writing a script for a play that we are going to perform sometime in the next 3 years.  He said it might take that long to finish it, plus Camryn and Logan have to be able to read and memorize lines.  He makes me laugh!  I’m just glad he was using his mind and practicing his writing!

The boys loved Media Day.  In fact, Connor thinks we need to have a media day once a week.  I told him we could do that for the rest of the summer, which means we’ll have one more next week.  I can certainly live with that.

I got so much accomplished while the boys vegged out!  I got completely caught up on laundry, had dinner ready to pop in the oven by 3:00, vacuumed the whole house, mopped the kitchen, and even watched a tv show and read a magazine.  It was almost like a mental health day for all of us.

At first, I totally felt guilty about our tv day.  Good moms don’t get sick of summer time.  Good moms don’t let their kids sit in front of the tv all day.  Good moms fill their days with quality play time.

I say every good mom needs a break.  And that’s exactly what today was, for all of us.