I’ve had enough. Everyone in front of the television right now.

I quit. I give up, give in, give out and no longer have the get go to be any kind of civilized parent this summer. Eleven days until school starts and we have officially started our summer break. Maybe I’m still in burn out mode from Girls Camp last week or maybe I’m just tired of cleaning up the same mess 24 times a day, but I sat around in my bathrobe until 2:17 yesterday afternoon reading a book. No, not a book. A novel. A mostly sappy although not too poorly written romance novel.

It was awesome. Let the party begin.

We’ve done a decent job this summer of keeping the natives organized, work in the morning followed by an outing or activity, no TV until after 2 or 3 on a good day…good parenting stuff. But the last three days I stumble out of bed as soon as the first curly head tots around the foot board and plug the kids into Apple TV. I think we’ve been on a Curious George marathon for a week now and still going strong.

My kids absolutely love this.

Why did I fight this all summer? It’s so easy to be lazy. We have gone through a school’s year worth of paper and glue and tape and straws and popsicle sticks trying to keep the television off. I have probably slipped a disk just from picking art project debris off the floor. I finally told my cleaning lady to stay away until September because it was a waste of my money. She’d clean the bathroom and an hour later someone would come in from the slip-n-slide and leave muddy footprints on the walls. THE WALLS.

Don’t get me wrong, no TV has had its moments. Like on Monday when Harrison came to me with his journal and showed me the blue prints for a robot he’s planning to build and a rough sketch of his “Lizard Trap,” complete with dead insects on strings that he will to use to lure the lizards under the box. The real joy, however, came when he turned the page and I spied plans for his “June Trap,” including detailed drawings of his sister and an elaborate set up to rid her from his life for eternity.

And you know it’s bad when the doorbell rings at 9:00 am and someone drops off kids that you forgot you promised to babysit and you have to stumble out of bed and function. That’s happened twice this week.

Bring on the school bus.


Comments

  1. Last week my friend told me she was so sick she turned the TV on for the FIRST TIME ALL SUMMER. I was like, how on earth have you gone three months without TV?! But then I remind myself she has TWO kids which means when she’s tired of playing with them, they can play with each other.

    For me, TV gives me a break from my kid since she’s an only child and she recently stopped napping. I’m a firm believer in a few lazy hours in front of the TV when mom needs an uninterrupted bathroom break. Or something.

  2. We love these stories! Next time please share images of the JUNE TRAP!

  3. I’m convinced that parents who say they don’t use the TV to babysit their kids are either lying, on drugs, or have never had a child insist he didn’t hear your repeated instructions to stop throwing flour around the kitchen.

  4. If I could “like” Lindsey’s comment above, I totally would. TVs make the best babysitters. George has watched Myth Buster marathons and we’ve had plenty of “friendship is magic” moments courtesy of My Little Pony. Sure, we’ve played too but the TV? It helps maintain sanity during the summer.

  5. Ha! You wrote this about me didn’t you…