I just read a friend's blog on how she had to cut back on TV usage. I think we all slip up and get into a habit of turning on the tube for our kids a little more each day. I don't know about you, but my kids love routine, so once I make it a habit for them to watch TV during Lola's entire nap (that's a lot), it shakes them up a bit when I cut it short. I hate shaking things up, because that causes unrest and I'm just a peace-maker. Haha, that's an excuse and a joke all in one. :) It's actually just me being totally lazy.
Ever since I had kid #3 and then #4, I felt myself slowly giving up the fight on a number of different things. An emotional woman can only handle so much before she's sitting in the play-room floor, crying with her crying kids and inquiring of the Lord, "Am I just weaker than I should be? How much should I take before I'm actually, clinically insane? I must be terribly bad because I just can't cut it." Other women actually keep ALL their kids home all day and do school on top of everything else. I just can't manage. Other mom's do no TV. I have not found the strength. So in the midst of this I've gotten better at not feeling so guilty, because guess what! I know other moms who cry too and turn on the TV too. I love those moms who "fail" right along with me. :)
Because the good news is, it's already been determined that I can't do this and Christ said, Of course you can't, Amanda. I've done what needs to be done already. Glory in your weakness. Glory in my strength. And it's okay to not be strong sometimes. It's okay to turn on the TV when you're having a breakdown.
All that to say, we can still try to do a good job. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I'd love to be stronger and make my kids stronger. I'd love to just know that that escape option isn't there for a few days, so instead of sending them on their way and going on vacation 30 minutes at a time a million times a day, I'll bear with their noisy, sweet presence and remember that Christ bears with me.
I'll follow my friend's suggestion and I think we'll do a mini TV fast, which will probably result in horrific wailing for the first 37 hours or so. Once the shock wears off, and we remember that TV is not the air we breathe, we'll bring it back in more healthy rations.
2 comments:
why is your title "fire your babysitter"? You sucked me in. I thought you had to fire your babisitter, whoever that is. I want to get rid of our TV, but Tyler likes sports.
Because the TV babysits for me. Sometimes I love the babysitter, but sometimes I need to fire it. Was that too poetic to be clear?
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