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Monday, January 16, 2012

What I learned while being unplugged...sort of

Before I even get into what we learned with no facebook, let me start off with a confession.  I am weak and have very little stick with it.  No, I did not cheat and get on facebook on our week off but as far as the T.V goes, I had caved by Tuesday to letting the kids and us watch 1 show a day.  I could sit here and blame it on them, but I won't.  Though with the first reminder of no T.V. my oldest confessed that he didn't think I would go along with his idea.    We don't have cable or any of the extras like that, just basic T.V.  We do enjoy after homework and chores are done watching T.V together.  I don't think that is a bad thing.  I am not sitting the kids in front of the T.V to get them out of my hair.  It is something we do together.  We have our shows that we like to watch.  With that being said, the few days we made it without T.V were interesting and a good thing.  It forced us to stray from out norm.  To find other things to occupy us.  Our low was when my middle son stormed inside and declared there was nothing to do outside.  He looked at us and said "since I can't watch T.V. , can I at least dig a hole in the garden."  We told him to go for it and for the next 3 days , that is just what he did.  He judged his progress by how far his sister could fit in it.  For the record, he made it to knee deep before the weather changed and snow covered it up.
What I learned, is it is good to change things up sometimes, and a few days without the television won't kill you.  And I learned that sitting down with the kids at night and enjoying a show is not a bad thing. 
Now for the details on our facebook vacation.  I am a very nosey person and enjoy a bit too much seeing what others are doing.  I was good,  though while Lily Rose was getting on her phonics game during her class time she clicked on FB.  But you will be proud to know I promptly x'd out and got her on her site.  I will say that without wasting my time on FB, my laundry is not as backed up.  I will not be signing out of my FB account and it is not all bad in my opinion.  I will be limiting how much time I spend on it.  I am now setting a timer to make sure I get off when I should. It is too easy to loose track of the time without doing that, at least for me.
For now the Buttry family will continue indulging in our tech time but with a closer eye to the clock.  And our next tech vacation we take will probably be contained to a weekend and not an entire week.



What do you all do to unplug?

4 comments:

  1. Melissa,
    Just wanted to tell you that I am very proud of you. Your Blog is interesting and very well written. It wil be a great thing to one day put all of the blogs together for your children. I am also very proud of you for the work you put into seeing that your children are raised and educated correctly. They may not fully appreciate it right now. But one day they will realize what a wonderful mother and father they have. You all have every reason to be proud.

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  2. Had to smile about the hole in the garden. I love your blog, and think we could all do with some "away" time from our electronics. I use mine to keep up when I'm trapped at home alone though, and fear I would climb the walls without it. You have a really wonderful family and I look forward to reading more about it. Blessings on you all. -- Mary Breiner

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  3. I have found myself hooked on "Words with Friends". Although it is somewhat educational by making me check my spelling and looking up words, I could sit in front of the computer and play with 3 different people for hours! I decided today not to get on the computer or turn the TV on all day. It is now 8:00 pm and I am allowing myself on here for a little while! Amazing how much I have gotten done today! I know where you are coming from. We have to set an example for our children...Susan Howard

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  4. Well I did not cave in, but I did relize the time that I do spend on there could be better used there also. And I enjoyed watching the progress of the hole. It was hard but it was time that I think we needed. Love Mark

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