Tuned Out

I ran a little experiment today. I have been having a hard time with the girls' attitudes lately. Ava will go from pleasant to angry in a matter of seconds. Jocelyn whines more than she speaks, and if she doesn't get exactly what she wants (and I mean EXACTLY) she screams at the top of her lungs. Now, I know that much of this is the "darling" ages they are each at. I am very blessed to have overall exceptionally behaved children. The downside, however, is my tolerance for these attitude shifts is pretty low. I don't feel their age should be an excuse for their bad behavior, and am looking for something to change.

So today we went almost the entire day without watching TV. I say almost because they watched Disney's Robin Hood movie for just over an hour while I got 30 minutes of badly-needed rest and cooked dinner. But other than that, nothing. And I have to be honest, while each child whined about it at first, I think it was almost harder on me than them. I like having background noise on throughout the day. I rarely sit and actually watch any television, but I enjoy having it on for me to listen to as I do chores and get other things done. There were a few times I would have liked to turn on the TV, even to a kids' show, just to have something other than my crazy kids to listen to.

But no TV meant a nice, quiet evening for us all. After dinner, Ben and Ava played Wii Sports for a good long time together. (For the record, I don't consider this TV time because they are actively interacting with the game and each other.) Jocelyn and Molly played in the same room and I was able to fold and put away TWO loads of laundry. Listening to the Wii Sports playing was too funny. In baseball Ava kept hitting "signals" instead of "singles." In boxing Ava kept asking why Daddy kept knocking her guy down and when it was her turn to knock his down. In bowling Ava was trying to show Ben how to roll the ball, since he "didn't know what he was doing." (He really enjoyed that last one...)

In the course of the day we did more artwork, reading, and playing with each other than we usually do. I don't know what kind of an impact this will have on the girls if we continue this way, but I'm certainly hoping it might help us move in the right direction. I don't think it's the actual shows they're watching - we still watch all the preschool shows that are more educational and less smart-aleck kids - but maybe all the extra noise that I like is not so enjoyable for them. And I am certainly not going to suddenly become an anti-TV mom. I know there are those who are, and I have great respect for them, because I honestly don't know how dinner would get on the table or how I could ever leave the room without a little TV each day. But I am willing, for my kids, to make a greater effort to be less tuned in to what's on the tube, and more tuned into the pretty great real-life people I am sharing my days with.