If you haven’t heard, we ditched our TV.
Crazy? Maybe.
But we’ll all find out together.

We have a 2 and a 3-year-old that I noticed were relying too heavily on the TV to get through the day. 
We also have tired mid-thirties parents who were relying too heavily on the TV to get through the day.
There had to be a better way. 
Children are built to play, to explore, to imagine. And mine were just wanting to zone out in front of the TV. We let this happen. And we’re going to do something to fix it.

If you haven’t read the intro and how it went on those first two (ROUGH) days yet, find it HERE, and then come back to catch up on Day 3!

Day 3

Gavin was up early as usual.

I went upstairs to get him and brought him down.
The first thing he said was, “THE PIANO!” and ran to it to immediately start playing.
My heart melted. I like this new habit already…

He literally played for 15 minutes solid.
I watched from the couch (still attempting to wake up as it was still dark out) as he would hit a button to play a pre-recorded song. He’d clap along, slowing to follow the tempo at the end of the song. He’d stop the song and then start again, clapping along with the beat, first a fast tempo, then slowing as the song did. As I watched, I noticed that the reason he kept stopping and then starting over was because he was practicing matching the beat with his claps. Over and over and over again, he repeated the song, clapping along and getting a little closer each time. The last time he did it, he pretty much nailed it.
He just turned two. And I just because extremely impressed with this child.

 

We spent some time together on the front porch like every morning since we ditched the TV, then went to church, & out to eat for lunch (which is a rare treat for our family)! Instead of ordering as quickly as possible and the slamming our food to get out of there before the kids lost patience, we took our time, and the kids were fantastic. Now that I reflect on that time, I realize… usually when we’re out to eat, we find ourselves scrambling for a phone video to keep Gavin from screaming just so we can finish eating. This time, the phones never even came out. I actually never even thought about that until just now. They just hung out with us and played together on the restaurant patio. Incredible. SO much more enjoyable. (So were the $2 margaritas I might add.)

 

That afternoon, I asked Chris if he’d mind if I took Charley on a date since I’ve been craving alone time with her. He was agreeable and took Gavin to run errands. Ironically, we went on a date to see a movie (ultimate screen time), but we had so much fun. We live within walking distance of the movie theater downtown, so we walked there and back, taking photos with the new murals downtown along the way, and even stopping in the candy store for a treat at the movies! Oh – and of course we couldn’t pass up dancing in a downtown park Gazebo while we made ice castles.

When we arrived home, the guys had wrapped up dinner and Gavin was popping bubble wrap. Who needs TV when you have bubble wrap?

Granted, Charley had just been to the movie theater, but neither child made mention of TV the entire day.

My level of hope for this new direction for our family has exponentially skyrocketed today…

 

Day 4

This morning was Chris’ first time up with the kids since we ditched the TV. Because he would typically turn on the TV with Gavin’s early mornings and try to go back to sleep on the couch, I was curious when I woke up how it was going. He said he “swears they have been better behaved and playing better.”

Toys were strewn all over the living room. But I noticed how they had been playing very creatively. I can live with the mess.

We headed outside to play after getting dressed for the day. The kiddos helped me pull weeds in the garden, and are now playing creatively again.
Charley is taking care of her cow (lol), and pretending to be a farmer. Gavin is entertaining himself with a stick and other things he has found in the yard. The only time I have had to intervene is when Charley accidentally soaked Gavin with the hose.

I could get used to this.