Be Careful Little Eyes...

I've been wanting to make one of these for several years.  Some sort of plaque/wall hanging/reminder to place above or near the screens in our house (TV/Computer).

Never being sure what form I wanted this art to take, I put off the project again and again.  Finally, inspired by the recent popularity of subway art I created this...



It now hangs on the wall in a lovely black frame above my homemade dry-erase board (just a regular frame with scrapbook paper under glass) which we use to keep track of daily "Tech rotation".  My boys are allowed 30min. of Wii and 30min. of computer games each day, unless they have lost one or both privileges due to behavior problems.




To watch, or not to watch?  The BIG BLACK BOX:

We are currently fasting from TV from Monday ~ Friday.  We have done this several times in the past.  TV has a way of slowly creeping into what little free spaces we have in our busy lives and often we waste our time on less-than-wholesome entertainment.

TV can bring out the worst in our kids.  When they zone out in front of the BOX, they seem to lose all social skills~they fight, bicker, and name-call much more readily.  

Conversely, when we are fasting from TV, it leaves a void that they have to fill with something.  Total boredom seems to be a good stimulus for brotherly cooperation~they play games, draw together, play music, communicate with more civil words.

A handy tool, the DVR:  make your TV work FOR you

If there is a particular show we want to watch that comes on during the week, we set the DVR.  Optimally, we would do this for all shows we want to watch.  Why?  
  • Much of what we don't want to put before our eyes is in the commercials.  DVR takes care of that problem, for the most part.  
  • Time Management~by setting the DVR, we can watch when our schedule allows, not according to the network's schedule.
Screen Free Week:  April 30-May 6, 2012

As I was catching up on my blogroll this morning, I found this post at Simple Homemade referencing "Screen Free Week."  Put on by the CCFC (Center for Commercial Free Childhood), Screen Free Week is "an annual celebration where children, families, schools, and communities turn off screens and turn on life."
  

One Day at A Time:

I tend to agree with Katie at Simple Homemade, let's turn the TV off as much as possible and encourage greater enterprise in our kids and ourselves.  When we do sit down in front of a screen, "be careful little eyes what you see."

~Allison


Happy Weekend! 





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