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Friday, November 11, 2011

Screen Time



I'm struggling this week.  When Ben was tiny and I was nursing every morning, we started allowing Caleb to watch an episode of Thomas each morning while I fed Ben.  That tradition morphed into daily breakfast and Thomas-watching time.  On Sunday, Teacher Man and I had had enough.  The "first thing in the morning" TV time had turned Caleb into a grumpy, whiny guy the rest of the day.  It was like the television was zapping his creativity and his ability to entertain himself.  So we said no TV with breakfast.  It served us for that season when we had a new infant, but it was just not necessary any more.

Of course, you can't just take something away without putting something positive in its place.  That's another reason we started praying through our Prayer Card Album and doing more Bible reading time together in the morning.  I love that several mornings this week all four of us have been gathered around the table for Bible Time and prayer.  But on the mornings that the kiddos and I have slept in a bit, it's a struggle for me.

It would be so much easier to give both kids their cereal and their Thomas video and read all my favorite blogs or check my Facebook.  It's seriously hard some mornings to think breakfast and Bible time first, breakfast and Bible time first....  But there is a difference, especially in Caleb.  He speaks of spiritual things when that's what we've talked about first thing in the day.  He quotes his memory verse to everyone who walks in the door.  When he was disciplined yesterday, he told me, "Mommy, God is not happy with me right now."
Me: Why not?
Caleb: Because I'm making bad choices and having an angry heart.
Me: So what do we need to do?
Caleb: Pray.

Wow.  I wish Caleb's mommy would always pray when she has an angry heart.  There's a difference in me too though.  I remember things from 1 Timothy that we've been reading about, and I know that we're one step closer to keeping first things first.

Plus, yesterday when I did let him watch Thomas for a half hour, he said, "OH, thank you, Mommy!  That is so kind of you to let me watch Thomas!  I am SO excited!"  It's a treat rather than a tradition, and I think that's the way I like it.

1 comment:

  1. Good for you, Krista. That's fantastic. I will probably make that change at some point, too. I'm just not ready...

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