The Results of "Stripping Down"

I have to admit, we cheated the last 2 days.  Three-day weekends with no TV watching are impossible.  OK, not impossible, but when you've been playing board games every day for the last week and it's January...Aaaaagh!  But we did have a good 5 days of NO TV or computer.

We had a follow-up discussion last night, and here are some of the things that the kids said they noticed about the week.  May I emphasize that THEY said these words.  Not us.  Not even a hint from us.

"It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be." 

"I hardly missed it."

"Our home felt more peaceful."

"I read like 200 pages of Diary of a Whimpy Kid."

We played Ticket to Ride a few times together.  Santa brought us this game and it's our new favorite! Max would love it if we played it every night from here on out.  It's right up his alley.

Max, Sadie and Bennett played in their basement blanket fort lots.  Sadie created a "Club Fort" with some very important rules. 

Side note: Can I just say one thing about Sadie?  I LOVE that she will play with her little brothers and that she actually enjoys it.  I want this to last forever.  I realize she'll be 11 soon and it won't last forever, so I'm just basking in it as much as I can.

And what did I do while they were at school? 

I did allow myself to check my e-mail a couple times a day and answer them.  But that was it!  I had to put my 2009 Blogbook project on hold for a week.  Also I...

Kept the house a little cleaner.

Tried out my new tripod and timer on the camera (Cheesy picture, I know.)

Played more with the little boys.

Made dinner while it was nice and quiet.

Read.

Did some organizing.

AND

Took a nap or two!

So....now that we know we CAN live without so much of it...we set some limitations on computer time.  We really don't watch that much TV, so we didn't have to change much with that.  But each child now has 15 minutes on school days, and an hour and a half on Fridays and Saturdays at the computer. 

I personally have decided that I will only spend time at the computer while the kids are at school, so that I can give them my full attention when they are home, and not feel bugged by them when they need me.

I'm excited! Change is so good.