Elimination vs. Moderation

Well, it's been an interesting February in the Bean household.  And I'm not ashamed to say I loved it but I'm also glad it's over.  So here is a recap of what went on.  For several months this past Fall I became more aware of how often I found myself on Facebook or playing Bejewled.  I was completely in shock when I overheard my 9 year old tell someone that he was addicted to video games.  I had to stop and take a long hard look at how much time my family was spending glued to electronics.  So after much thought, Ty and I decided that our family would take an electronic break for the month of February.  I thought picking the shortest month of the year would help ease my children's pain when I told them our plan.  Well the 2-3 fewer days didn't seem to impress them.  They were not thrilled in the least.  But once I unpacked my bags of goodies from WalMart and Hobby Lobby they cheered up a bit.  Did you know it's expensive to be creative?  But I'm eager to report that we played board games,  played card games, put puzzles together, tie-dyed shirts, molded clay, read books, painted by number, road bikes, jumped on the trampoline and we accomplished all of this on the first day.  So I asked myself, "What do we do now?"  I mean seriously I used to think i needed 25 hours in a day.  Now I find myself praying that the hands on the clock would move.  "Is it bed time yet?"  Don't get me wrong.  I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and my kids.  And to be completely honest we have had a couple of cheat days.  My youngest son turned 7 on February 9th.  So for a treat we set the timer for one hour and allowed them to play on their Kindles.  Then back to the hiding place they went.  Yes, we hid all electronics.  We didn't want any unnecessary temptation.  We also allowed some cheating when my oldest spent the night away from home.  I found it to be very difficult when we would visit family members whose children were not being tortured, as Brady would say.  We had even started the month saying that television would only be watched as a family activity.  This lasted only a week. We gave them a little more leeway when it came to movies and cartoons.  A weekend with 60 mph wind that keeps you inside without T.V. is something I couldn't fathom.  And I wasn't going to watch Ice Age Continental Drift one more time.
Okay, so what did I learn during this experience?  I learned that elimination is unnecessary for our family but moderation is a great idea.  I also realized that this month was as hard or harder for me than the kids.   I had been using electronics as a babysitter.  "Give me just a minute and go play your video game!"  I found myself saying that quite often.  To tell you the truth I love my alone time and with the kids enjoying their games I had plenty of it.  But I had to ask myself, "Who do I want raising my kids?"  Are iPads, Kindles, iPods and Nintendos bad?  No!  But can too much of something be bad? Yes!  I'm saying it people.  Posting on Facebook every 30 minutes is unhealthy!
Finally March is here.  Praise Jesus!!!  Hudson can stop asking, "How many more days?"  But I'm so glad we experienced a (semi) electronic free February.  It made us find some new hobbies.  It brought us closer together and It also made us remember how blessed we are.  But with the month of March comes a new plan.  Electronics will be limited.  I don't want to find ourselves back in the "addicted" category next month. The Beans will be playing more board games.  Our family will be seen riding our bikes on the beautiful new trail along the Lovington Highway.  I'm excited to see what new things we will enjoy as a family.  But there will always be a time and a place for Super Mario Brothers.