PUNISHING THE TELE

We are a family that has one television.  I am sure by some people's standards it is small but it fits our family quite well.   This lucky device once had the privilege of having a room to itself.  But it was a bad little screen.  It seemed to distract the babes every time they passed it.  Mama and the Papa would wonder into the room after the babes were in bed and that sneaky little thing would steal our time from each other.  It forced us to eat copious amounts of junk food and stare aimlessly into the flashing pictures rather lovingly into each other's eyes. Its very presence seemed to call to us at every moment of the day.  We had enough of that tele and decided that she had to be punished.  So we made a decision to separate this anti-social gal from the rest of the members of the family.

In a desperate attempt to regain control, her plugs were pulled and hauled (by the Papa on my orders) to our room.  It now occupies a space right on top of dresser across from our king sized bed (you know because we bed share with four babes).

I decided to do this for several reasons:  

1)  the television was definitely a distraction during our homeschool days.  The girls were constantly wanting to watch a show and it became a bribing tool.  It sucked that they would only want to engage in homeschool if they knew that they could get a show.  I ended that thought quickly.

2)  Our littlest babe has never been a good sleeper and is in constant need of comfort in the night.  Our room has to be dark and I need to be by her side.  We would just get into a show downstairs, when I would have to leave to go calm her down.  The Papa would patiently wait for me to return.  We would never get through a show together.  I would be stuck up in the bedroom unable to read (because a light beside my side of the bed distracted little Ivy).  Now we can settle in and watch a show all the way through.  YES!!  And I can just whip out my boob to nurse or Papa can lay the little on his chest.

3)  Our room is sacred.  I know!  I know!  How can our room be sacred when we all end up sharing the bed at some point in the night?  Surprisingly, the girls respect that it is Mama and Papa's space.  They enter our room for comfort during the night or when not feeling well.  But they never enter without permission.  They don't rummage through our things, play with their toys, or make special forts unless asked.  Also our room is beyond boring.  So there really isn't a need to go in there, which leads me to....

4)  Out of sight, out of mind.  Our room is a dark cavern that you have to really think about and kind of go out of your way (well not really but the door is usually closed and I keep it dark like a bat cave).  Their rooms are much more desirable.

All in all, the movement of the television has worked wonders.  We have lived in this house for 2 and a half years and we are still sorting out where is the best places for things to make life more efficient and calmer.  This was definitely a hit.  In another post I will talk about our screen time rules for our house and navigating those but for now, I just love these photos of the girls.  They are watching a show they decided on together and not passive or zombies.  They truly do get entertained with the little shows they watch....And sometimes...they just entertain themselves.