Life with Aidan Kai: unplugged Friday part 2

This Friday was our second Friday spending it "unplugged" where we had no t.v. or computers. This is what I decided to give up for lent. This week I decided that we would spend the morning at the zoo. The first thing in the morning is a great time to go to the zoo because most of the animals are usually active and awake and sometimes eating. We only spent a couple of hours there due to the "fallout" from Japan that was due to hit Southern California on Friday. All though all of the experts said that it was harmless, I still wanted to get back home in the indoors. Spending the morning outdoors worked because Aidan came home and had a loooonng nap. Clinton was able to come home early that night ( in our house 7:30 IS early) and we were able to go out and have dinner as a family. Mr. Aidan was so well rested that he didn't go to bed until 10:30 that night. We are walking a fine line with naps these days. If he does nap, he has a tendency to take a 3 hour nap and sleep well into the evening. This makes for a late bedtime. If he doesn't take a nap we are both usually feeling the consequences around 6ish with whining and meltdowns. On these nights he is asleep by 7:45 and I get to have some "me" time. :)

I have to say "unplugged" Fridays have been going pretty well. I think Aidan is having a more difficult time with it than I am. This week I let him watch a few of his shows in the evening. I SO wish I would have stuck with my guns when he was a baby and not let him watch ANY t.v. I think the kid would watch television 10 hours a day if I would let him. My goal is to cut down on the t.v watching more and more each week until he is only watching it 5 to 6 hours a week. I know that t.v. is not good for kids no matter how educational the shows can be and research shows that it shortens their attention span and kids do poorer in school no matter what their I.Q's. Many times the t.v. is just background noise and he is playing with his toys, so I will start with turning OFF the t.v. whenever his attention is diverted. baby steps.

I have to say that unplugged Friday has made me realize HOW MUCH I depend on my computer. I had to get Clinton to pull up directions to the restaurant we went to on Friday because we have no maps. I also had to pull out the phonebook and use it on Friday. It has been YEARS since I have used a phonebook OR an old fashioned map. It just makes me realize what a different world Aidan is growing up in compared to how I grew up. Probably the thing that aggravated me the most was not being able to check my emails. The email and facebook apps on my phone were VERY tempting, but Im proud to say that I stuck it out. lol! What DID we do before the internet? :) I spent some time READING while Aidan was napping and that was really refreshing! I am going to make it a point to spend more time reading and to also spend more time reading my bible. :)

Since Aidan is in school 2 days a week I have decided to get back into doing "crafty" things. I used to enjoy doing crafty things once in awhile and it has been a LONG time since I have created anything remotely crafty. This week I wanted to create a space where Aidan could display his work from school. I thought about how he likes to do things "himself", so I made a "I did it myself" board. I thought it turned out o.k. but I am not happy with the actual writing on the board. However, it will serve its purpose. I hung it in his playroom and he will proudly be able to display his work from school.