a peek inside the fishbowl

Sometimes it’s a struggle trying to find something to do with your kids. It’s too easy to plop down in front of the TV but in the afternoons I endeavor to do something different with them. During the week we don’t watch TV in the afternoons and evenings. Sarah watches some TV in the mornings on M-W-F while I write/work. We have a family movie night every Friday. The girls watch for a few hours on Saturdays and Sunday mornings. And that’s it.

When Emma was small she watched TV in the mornings before daycare. It started because it helped us get her dressed. She’d zone out in front of the set, oblivious to the fact that we were sticking her head in a turtleneck and socks on her feet etc etc. I guess it was handy while we were getting ready too, it kept her busy, but she wasn’t interacting with anyone either. In the end we switched it off. It was more trouble than it was worth because it took us more time to get out of the house. We thought we all needed the TV in the morning, when in fact we didn’t. She was fine without it, and she surprised us by playing on her own when it was off, and not standing outside the shower bawling for attention like we had feared.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of great programming on for kids nowadays. I loved Nanalan when it was on. CBC and TVO are totally commercial-free in the mornings (yay!), but still, I think it’s too easy to fall into the trap of the “electronic babysitter.” What do you think?

So, our afternoons are TV-free. That being said, I don’t mean to give the impression that we’re doing hardcore crafting every day. There are days they play together with a flashlight under the covers while I read blogs work.

The other day Sarah and I made treasure.

She collected beer bottle caps from the stacks of twofours in the basement. (First I made sure none of them would topple over on her.) We flattened them with a hammer, and I spray painted them gold. Here they are, in their shiny glory:

I am happy with how they turned out.

Emma and Sarah took off with the idea, and collected other “treasures” for their pirate’s chest: faux pearls, shiny rings, things like that.

I made them pirate hats out of newspaper and Emma wore a big black “pirate belt.” Sarah found a parrot puppet – pirates need their parrots you know – and they spent a happy afternoon brandishing their cardboard and foil swords and yelling “aaaargh matey!”

I do love watching them use their imagination like that.