BillBlog: Lent

Well, believe it or not (I am having a hard time...) today is FAT Tuesday! I grew up southern Baptist so I never even knew about "lent" until I got to college and learned about it from friends. Over the years, I have occasionally given things up- facebook, chocolate (with selfish hopes of dropping a few...) and a few worthwile "additions" instead of subtractions (read my bible EVERY DAY no matter what...)

Last fall Stephen and I got our first iphones. This Christmas we got an ipad mini for the family. To say that our media intake (as a family) has skyrocketed since the iphone entered our world would be an understatement. I have fairly recently started a small side business of buying/selling clothing and accessories via ebay, and between that and my love for my "mini" I am online alllll the time. I have been convicted on multiple occasions that I need to put the devices down and FOCUS on my kids, and I do, but then I slowly drift back into checking instagram, ebay, and the like. I don't beat myself up too much- I know I am a good mom, but could always stand improvement. I give my kids lots of attention, but as I have seen Blakely's addiction to media grow- it has FREAKED me out. This TWO YEAR OLD on an ipad is entirely too savvy, and frankly Stephen and I are not fans of the attitude it seems to bring out in her. For whatever reason, after a short time playing on it she turns into somewhat of a grouch- whining and demanding she get her way. Thus, our lent experiment.

I have been considering giving some (or all) of media up for some time, but haven't had the motivation to really sit down and think it through and set my parameters (not to mention, I know it will be HARD). I mentioned doing something as a family to Stephen and he was immediately on board. So here's what we are doing:

No internet- period. For me at least. Stephen will have to use the internet for talks and work and such- but he isn't even going to check espn, or his worldnews websites. I will check my email- but the most time tempting email I get is jcrew- which I will not be clicking on... I have a few events before Easter that I need to stay in touch about- so that's why I'm still checking my email.

Our phones will only be used to COMMUNICATE with people. Neither of us are obsessive texters, so we will text our people and use our phones to make phone calls- what they were originally invented for. :) (of course in the event of an emergency, I am free to use my phone to figure out where I am, where something I need is, etc.)

NO ipad for me. I am not allowed to use the ipad for anything except maybe to turn on pandora so I can listen to some music. Same for Stephen. Blakely can use it for her puzzles and games and a movie, but we are working on her very specific guidelines today. We are going to set a time limit on her use, and maybe set up a reward system of some kind so she gets that it is a priviledge to use it.

TV: Stephen and I LOVE to watch tv together. We don't see this as a big issue, except that often times we just sit in front of the tv and watch whatever is on. So we are picking our shows- that we watch TOGETHER, and thats it. No late night junk, CSI, american idol business just cause nothing else is on. Would you like to hear our show list? We think they are great. Disclaimer: This probably will still sound like a LOT of TV to you...but I assure you, I am cutting back. Stephen is gone most evenings for work, so I am always watching TV after the kids go to bed. I also can watch anything with a plot (even a sub-par one...) Sundays: the Mentalist, Mondays: Castle, Tuesdays- NO TV!, Wednesdays: Meet the Neighbors (this show is hilarious, if you haven't seen it.) Thursday: Person of interest and Elementary, Friday: DATELINE- (laugh if you want, but we LOVE our Friday night DATEline. :)) Saturdays: NO TV!

Blakely can watch two shows on the computer when she gets up while she eats breakfast, Sesame Street at 9, and one show around 3:30/4. We are not going to be hard nosed with her, cause sometimes I need to occupy her with something while I am getting Henry to sleep or nursing him. Although we are not going to be super strict with her, we would like to cut her TV intake back drastically.

This means no ebay for me, no facebook, no reading blogs. I am going to try to blog myself during this time, because I know it is going to be great for our family and I want to document! Plus, I know my family enjoys reading it. Oh- that reminds me. I will still be taking pictures with my phone. :) I probably need to get out (and dust off...) that nice camera that we had to buy to document Blakely's life. :)

I am really hoping this accomplishes a few things: #1 more time in the word, individually and as a family. I know I always need to read my bible and study it more, memorize more scripture, read more Christian literature, etc. #2 More quality family time. I want to get more creative in how we spend time together. More crafts, more outings, more creative playing, etc. #3 More productivity. MAYBE I'll have a cleaner house, cook more meals, become more organized. Or maybe less so on all of those because I'll be too busy having fun with my family (which will be equally productive.)

Whew! Ok, I'm done. Now here are some pictures for sticking with it for that whole post. :)