TV

I think that most of us like TV. Probably a little bit too much. At least, I think I do. I watch a lot of TV. And my kids are following in my steps. Oh, they both love other things too, but the TV is always on in our apartment, usually with some form of Baby Einstein or Backyardigans. Of the kind of TV that my kids could watch, I definitely think that these two shows are some of the best out there. I'm just concerned that by letting them watch so much TV, I'm depriving them of other things. Now that it's (finally) starting to get warm, it will be a lot easier to turn off the TV and go outside to play. And yet, that's still difficult for me, because I'm usually really tired and don't relish the idea of chasing my kids, making sure that Katy doesn't somersault off the jungle gym and Jayson doesn't eat the little wooden chips that seem to fill playgrounds these days. I know that I should get them out of the habit of watching TV first thing in the morning, but I'm so tired in the mornings that it's infinitely easier to put a movie on and go back to sleep on the couch while they watch. Meanwhile, I know that I myself am addicted to TV, preferring to watch it online when I can pause it whenever I need to in order to help my kids with whatever they need. I guess I know what I need to do, I'm just not motivated enough to do it.

If it will help prevent what exploded here tonight, though, I think I could get motivated. Katy and Jayson both had meltdowns while we were trying to pray before bedtime tonight. Jayson bit Tyler and Katy refused to sit down and fold her arms long enough for the prayer. The consequences? Jayson got a swift swat for biting and Katy had to go to bed without reading any books. It just changed the whole atmosphere of the night, though. We're all tense and Katy's crying and complaining and trying desperately to get out of her room (we've locked it to keep her in there). I don't know if the amount of TV we watch contributed to this tonight, but I think it may have. So maybe I just need to bite the bullet, grow up a little, and turn off the dag-gum TV once in a while. Or maybe I just need to water a plant over it and see what happens....=)