A couple of our girls have been struggling to manage their time and their stuff. Rob and I have scolded, complained, and given mild consequences to try to turn their sloppy habits around. This week, a trip up to their bedroom to change the bedding pushed us over the edge! The mess was all you can imagine a tween and teen girl could create and then some--we decided enough was enough.
The discipline we imposed was to remove the privilege of using the computer, their iPods, and our Kindle for a while. Perhaps "unplugging" from the Internet will free up their attention to focus better on reading, chores, and studying. One thing is for sure--it got their attention!
We have been loving the changes we're seeing already. And it hasn't been in how tidy or studious they've been, either. It's in the sudden burst of creativity as they fill their time with new craft projects. And the laughter in the house as the girls spend more time connecting with each other. There's more snuggling on the couch with us at the end of the day. Today found them playing out in the snow with their little brother and cooking up some good stuff in the kitchen.
We intended to bring some discipline into their lives, but Rob and I have found we needed some correction too. Going forward, we can see we should be setting better boundaries around their screen time. We will be taking more trips to the craft store to keep the creativity flowing. And we'll unplug more often ourselves to enjoy time together.How does your family balance your time watching TV and going online? Ideas, please!
Good for you! (And good for them, too.)
ReplyDeleteWe are so working on the balancing act. TV isn't such a big deal, because we only recently got a very BASIC channel package. So there isn't much to "watch".
But computer time is a challenge.
If you get some good tips, do pass them on, please. :)
Hmmm, I think I need to do some "unplugging" too! Great message! Thanks Joanna :)
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