Unplugged

It started as a basic Sunday morning.  I got up early.  Made the kids chocolate chip muffins.  Laid out clothes for them to wear to church.  Hopped in the shower.  I got out and realized Josh still hadn't moved from the TV to put on his clothes.  I asked him again to do so.  Then I realized Patrick hadn't come up from the downstairs after showering and getting himself ready.  I sent John down to check on him and quickly discovered he had made it downstairs where the Xbox lured him away and now with 15 minutes before we needed to walk out the door he still was sitting in front of the Xbox and hadn't showered or anything. 

It was at this point that Mom had a come apart fit.  Now I know none of you ever do this.  Your homes probably run like clockwork on Sunday mornings.  Everyone wakes up in a thankful mood...the sun is shining...no one is ill tempered...lions lay down with lambs...the whole 9 yards, right?  Not so gentle reader at the Puckett house about 8:42 AM yesterday.

We managed to scrape together some semblance of dressed children and loaded up.  We hadn't made it out of the driveway and I turned off the radio and told them we had a problem.  I'm tired of having to ask over and over for them to do something while I get a glassy eyed stare back in return.  Tired of having them walk in the door and then disappear to the computer, Xbox or TV for the rest of the afternoon.  Tired of having to have the same argument every afternoon when I tell them they have reached their limit of TV/computer/game time.  For the record, it is 2 hours each afternoon. 

So we are unplugging for 48 hours starting today.  Once we walk in the door from school/work this afternoon there is no TV, Xbox, computer, DSi or Wii.  Once I explained how this would work I immediately heard all the complaints.  What will we do all day?  What if I have a huge school assignment and I need the computer?  Why do you hate us so much? 

I explained we have lots of options of what to do:

We own at least 972 board games. 
We own probably 2.3 million dollars worth of books.
We have Playdough and clay and tons of art supplies.
We have lots of chores that need to be done around the house.
We have a playset in the back yard.
We have dogs that need some attention.
We have enough Legos to open our own Lego Store.
We can talk to one another.
We can all help make dinner.
We can go for a walk or hit the park.
We can ride bikes/scooters.
We can visit with friends.

After I explained it all to the kids and they were out of earshot my darling husband asked that if this applied to us to...like we can still watch TV after they go to bed, right?  NOPE.  We are all unplugged when home. 

So if you see anyone from my family wandering around aimlessly today or tomorrow then just pat them on the back and tell them they will survive and be better for it.

They have no idea that I plan to make this a weekly occurrence.  One night a week we are going to unplug and refocus. 

Technology is awesome but I'm tired of competing with it.  I want my family one night a week to re-engage and invest in one another.

See you on the flip side.