We live in such an amazing (and challenging) time; we have a wealth of information (and entertainment) always at our fingertips. With the click of a button or the swipe of a screen, there is no end to all that can be said, done, seen, learned.
But, sometimes, the immediate and constant access we have to the world can sometimes be a distraction, if not a serious problem. If we are not careful, we can be so plugged into media (music, TV, news, information, games, movies, etc. etc. etc.) that we unplug from life and important relationships and responsibilities.
Please share what you do to maintain balance and priorities in your life and home.
Here are some ways I’ve tried to maintain a balance:
*Stopping personal computer time when my kids need me (i.e. blogging, Facebook) instead of making them wait.
*No TV before school or church
*Turning off the TV for the day and making the kids play outside (so hard in the winter!)
*It may seem more convenience than limiting, but we use our TiVo to record our favorite shows so we can watch them after the kids are in bed. Plus, we haven’t had to watch commercials in years!
*My kids know that when they play video games of any kind, they only get to for 30-45 minutes –and not every day.
*I’m a huge outdoors buff (novice, though), and so I try to fill the summer days with things we do away from the house (museums, hiking, picnics, park, etc.). Again, this is hard in the winter for us (because we’re not winter sports people!).
We actually don’t have a TV connection – a bit by accident, we lost the signal, and that forced us to do what we had talked of doing for a while — not having TV.
We know this isn’t a requirement, and that there can be good via TV, but wow. We have really loved it. I think because it’s not there, we do more reading, more talking, more playing.
We do have movies that we own, so we can sit and chill in front of a movie once in a while. But they choose that less and less.
We also don’t really give our kids computer access unless absolutely needed. Again, the idea is to minimize screen time. Once in a while, we’ll sit and enjoy some fun YouTube clips or do searches together, but their computer time is limited. We figure they will become computer proficient soon enough and will reach a point where they have to do more schoolwork on the computer, but until then, we encourage them to create their own entertainment through play and reading.
And sometimes they have to remind us to do the same! 🙂