A Week Without T.V.

Well, it's time to report back on our no T.V. week. I would call it a success, though some might say we cheated a little . . . I say that technically we did not. No, T.V. week started at 11:30 a.m. central time on Friday, January 28 and didn't really end until the Super Bowl on Sunday! That was the first time we watched any live T.V. anyway.

Okay, so the reason I say that some may say we cheated is because on Wednesday (after almost six full days of no T.V.) we let Jackson watch a DVD while we put babies to bed. It had been a long day for all and all five kids were crying (Jackson because he wanted someone to play with and the babies because they were tired and hungry). Mommy was getting close to tears herself, so I offered a DVD. Clint said I was breaking, I said I was maintaining sanity! Even though I let him watch a DVD (which technically is not T.V.) I turned it off as soon as babies were in bed and surprisingly enough, Jackson did not complain! We did the same on Thursday night too. Since Jackson had not seen any shows in so long, he watched opened mouthed without a peep! Usually, he asks for a movie while we feed babies and then climbs and talks and is generally busy the whole time. It was nice to have him sit still while we got the babies to sleep!! Jackson STILL has only watched movies or T.V. when babies are eating. Clint and I watched one show on the DVR the other night and then of course the Super Bowl. I did turn on a show yesterday while Jackson was gone with Aunt Jessica and I was feeding babies.

A little photo essay of our week without T.V. (minus all the snow day pictures, because they enjoyed their own post!)

Fun with balloons

A little freedom before a bath: Westin, Brooklyn, Gage and Kynlee

I dressed myself! The hat is an old one of Daddy's and when Daddy commented about "his" hat, Jackson replied, "It's not yours, it was in my closet!" The band-aid was an accessory for a week. He put it over a scrape (from a toy he threw up in the air) and we couldn't get him to take it off. By the time he did, he had red marks from the band-aid that lasted for days!

Paper bag puppets with Mommy (we made paper snowflakes one day too, but no pictures, oh well)

So, far the no T.V. week has translated into the T.V. being on less overall. I don't turn it on in the morning and Clint does not automatically turn it on in the afternoon/evening. I think it got us to really start thinking about when we turn it on. We spent a lot more time playing and talking (though Clint and I really didn't spend any extra time together as I had hoped, just one of those weeks where there was no time to spare). Jackson did manage to find a loop hole one day while I was feeding babies. He likes to play games on the Disney playhouse website and so I had set him up with one while I was feeding. After a while I realized the sounds had changed. I asked what he was doing and he told me that he was watching a show! He had found an episode of some Disney show on the website!! He's too smart and too resourceful for his own good!

Clint reunited with his remote (I kept it in the pantry all week :)

I'm sure we will lapse back into bad habits at times, but so far so good! And we can always schedule another no T.V. week if necessary. I'm thinking monthly no T.V. weekends would be a good idea. Hmmmm . . .