Screen-Free

My blogging has been sparse lately. I don't have a lot to say right now, but more so, my kids just aren't letting me have alone time these days. It doesn't help that I go to bed at 9:00 p.m, but when I'm up off and on all night with a three-year-old who cries for hours for no apparent reason and a baby who wants to eat every two hours, I need to go to bed early.

But this post isn't about my blogging shortage (nor my sleep shortage). This post is about something I have committed to that will probably have me sobbing within the first three hours: 

Starting Monday, we are going screen-free at the Brittish home. 

No TV, no movies, no video games, no computer, no Leapster, no apps, no cell phone web surfing for an entire week.

And I? Am probably going to die.

Because I have a hard time making it through a day without letting my kids watch TV or a movie. 

It has become my "retreat time." I need my kids to watch TV (or play a video game, or watch a movie...) because I need them to stop following me everywhere I go. And I need to have an hour to read a book or do the dishes or blog or just sit and stare at a wall. And I need them to do something that does not make a mess.

My kids do not self-entertain, so I have to walk them through every little detail of their play. Plus, with children that wake up at 6:00 a.m, and with a husband working and going to school full-time, I am alone with my kids for a verrryyy looooong time each day. On a normal day, Nicky is awake and needs to be kept busy for TWO HOURS before he even goes to school! Then he comes home, and I have to keep him occupied for another NINE HOURS before he goes to bed. Somewhere in there, there has to be a little screen time, or I will pull my hair out. 

I hate to admit it, but I have not been very happy at home lately. I am constantly on the verge of breaking down. I can't handle my kids, I'm short-tempered, and my attitude is pretty bad. I feel like everything in my home life is out of control, and it's my own fault. I don't really know how to snap out of it, but I've been trying for weeks to reset and get out of this funk. During this time, I've been more prone to put my kids in front of a screen. I feel guilty about it constantly, and I always tell myself that today will be the last day I do it. But today is never the last day because tomorrow I will snap at 1:00 in the afternoon.

So here is another attempt to escape the drag and start over again. 

Tomorrow we are having a family meeting to make a plan. I've already talked to Nicky about Screen-Free Week, and he is totally on board. He is great about stuff like this. Daisy on the other hand is going to be a problem. I'm hoping if we get her involved in some of the planning for the week, she will be more agreeable.

We are going to put a blanket over our TV and a sign on our computer to remind us to keep them off. We're going to box up electronics like the Nintendo DS and the Leapster. We are going to plan activities and outings. We are going to get a great stash of music ready to listen to. And we're going go forward and see how things turn out. 

It's going to be hard. 

But it will be good for us.

And maybe, with a bit of endurance, I'll push myself out of the bad place I've been camping out in.

See you in a week!