Too Much TV

I am in need of some rejuvenating. It seems like the time of year itself should give me the boost I need, an excitement that propels me toward summer. But I feel a dull dragging. I see photos posted on Instagram of beaches and mountains and quaint cottages in the country. It all looks so refreshing and I find myself longing for the feelings those photos invoke.

(There is that whole voice that reminds me not to compare my every day to other people's highlights. But that's a topic for a whole different post.)

Hope's school is encouraging a screen free week, and I'm wondering if I should (or could) view this as an opportunity for some rejuvenation. It's not like we watch an inordinate amount of television, or play multiple video games per day, but I understand the importance of breaking away from screens and enjoying the many other ways to spend our time. Still, it might be difficult, not necessarily because of the amount of time we spend in front of the television, but because of the routines we've mastered -- like that of the girls watching a show or two before school every morning, which they have been doing for years.

Our whole family has agreed (more or less) to participate, with a few exceptions. Writing here is one of mine. But it will be good for us to attempt a week without the option of a screen to entertain us. And I am hopeful that a break from technology will give me the boost I've started longing for.

It will at least give me some time to sit in the quiet, or as quiet as my kids will let it be, and focus on my thoughts instead of distracting myself at every free moment with Facebook, email, Disney Channel, Facebook again, Huffington Post, Instagram, Facebook, well, you get the idea.

If I can't take a week for a quiet getaway in a rustic cabin or a relaxing beach vacation with sandcastles and three little girls in polka dot swim suits, I suppose I'll take my glass of screen-free liquid and look at it as a half full opportunity to rejuvenate in other ways. Reading, writing, photography and reminding my kids that it's not my job to entertain them if they're feeling "bored" -- which, by the way, was a four letter word in my house growing up, something from my childhood I am definitely passing on to my own family now.

All-of-a-sudden I'm feeling some trepidation about this whole thing. Sheesh. Pathetic how dependent we've become on needing screens to entertain us.

Crossing my fingers (and toes) for no one going crazy this week.

xoxo, christine