No Electronic Crack

Just recently,I decided to take away all electronically devices from my children. Now,we're not a family who has to have the latest gadgets and gizmo's,but my children do love video games,(they have the XBOX)along with my darling husband,who by the way introduced our children to this wonderful past time. Don't get me wrong,I've played my shared of games too and still do,but it's not my whole life. I have other things I enjoy to do also,like reading a book,gardening,writing,cooking,taking a walk and exploring.

I have spent the last five days watching my children literally go through withdrawal from not having the television,video games and computer(unless its school related). It hurts my heart to see them not knowing what to do with themselves. The first day I took everything away,I noticed how all five of my kids wanted to go to sleep. They just couldn't stand being in a house that didn't have fun at their finger tips(i.e.game system, t.v.) They kept asking,"When can we play with the game?" All of my kids had very short tempers too. They just blew up at each other over anything(this is why I took the game to begin with,did I make a mistake),and honestly I almost cracked,but I made it through.

We haven't always been a family that lacked creativity. I say lack because whenever you depend on something or someone else for entertainment on a regular basis then you lack creativity. In fact,when my three older children were younger,I would only allow television on every other day and only for an hour. I always thought that was reasonable for a 4 year old,a 2 year old and 1 year old at that age. Instead of plopping my children in front of the tube,we would spend our days in hours of imaginative play:building castles,tents and boats out of boxes,tables & chairs,and of course,the many layers of sheets and blankets. Our days were spent fighting imaginary villains,and saving the world.

Most days we would venture out to the playground for hours of uninterrupted "free" play.When the weather wouldn't permit,we would open a book and begin a new journey.We always laughed,we always talked,and sometimes we even fought,but we could never be to mad because we had so many thoughts of what to do next.

Those were the days when my children and I had endless amounts of creativity,joy and true peace. Our days weren't bombarded with countless commericals of sugary drinks and cheaply made over priced toys. My kids found what they wanted to do and did it. They never waited for someone to tell them,who they were and what they should be doing. They were just themselves,loving being free. T.V. and video games weren't as interesting as creating their own fun.

As my family has grown over the years,I continued to encourage a limited t.v. lifestyle,but I also began to allow a little more t.v. time as my oldest entered 5th grade. I thought what harm could come,if they could watch at least an hour of TV during the week.At first, no one really watched t.v. or played games,but after a few weeks all hell broke loose. The siblings started fighting over what to watch,the remote,where to sit and chores (no one wants to miss a show).

It's sad to see how game consoles,computer and television have had such a negative effect on my kids. My husband felt like,since their Honor students,I shouldn't take items away from them. But my point,isn't about if your a good student or not. It's about the bad behavior and having a lack of interest in hobbies that made them happy.

As I said before,it hurts to see your children wanting and craving something so bad. But it also hurts to see your children sit in front of a box like a zombie while all of their creative energy goes to waste.

Since we started this TV Free challenge(I don't know how long it will last),my kids are focusing on projects that they once enjoyed. Our household is back to normal,as normal as a household of seven can be,but it's not chaotic,thank the heavens.

-peace-

Shelly