“Your first thought in the morning should be “thank you”. You can choose whatever you want for the second.”
We definitely should be saying “thank you” every morning. God (or whatever/whoever you personally believe in) has granted us another day to be alive!!!! That is pretty awesome and amazing.
Today is Thursday.
I like Thursdays. The kids have early release from school (home by 2) and there is just kind of a more relaxed vibe in the air on Thursdays. It’s the pre-weekend. 🙂 My most challenging days are usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those evenings tend to feel a bit hectic and harried (our evening activity schedule is heavier on Tuesdays/Wednesdays too), and there isn’t really a break in sight quite yet.
A petition from the constituents:
The kids recently rallied the troops (well, the two of them together= the troops) and came to us one day last week with a very serious proposition. They sat us down and said they wanted to discuss something. Oh boy! What could it be. 🙂
We listened intently to their presentation, which outlined the various reasons that they think they should be allowed at least some video game time on weeknights. (Our household policy has long been NO games Monday-Thursday, only Friday night- Sundays/ weekends). They proposed 1 hour each night.
We responded that we would discuss in our chambers and get back to them with a ruling, and that we appreciated their even keeled, thoughtful approach to the request. (They didn’t just start whining and yelling, “IT’S NOT FAIR…..”.)
Ultimately, we decided that for now they could have 45 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays AND some extra privileges as rewards periodically (for example, they both aced tests last week and got them back on Monday, so we agreed on a little time Monday night as a special reward.)
Apparently “all their friends” get to play on weeknights after school (which we do not particularly care about, but I know they do, since they play interactive games WITH those friends). As long as they are getting any homework done, practicing piano, doing their chores and still finding time to read, be active, etc., I’m okay with a little bit getting added in on weeknights. I know it’s their favorite thing to do, and I clearly remember coming home from school as a kid and plopping down with a snack and a favorite TV show for ~45 minutes too. I did love that little “veg out” time to just kind of check out for a bit after the school day. (They don’t really watch much TV at all, so I guess it balances out.)
The difference some color makes!!
I was just prepping my journal page (sorry, bad lighting) and noticed how BORING it looks before I pull out my markers.
Thought of the day… “For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.” Yep! Can’t get those seconds back, either.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for fluffy bath mats when I step out of the shower. Our bathroom tile is COLD. I like our bath mats. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Sounds like a reasonable rule. We will definitely tamper down when baseball season starts. As you alluded to in the past it’s basically the only social life kids get now.
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Yeah, definitely. It makes a big difference to me that the main games they play are actually played with real, live friends! Real socialization, collaboration etc is happening which I like. Also, we knew we would probably eventually need to amend our policy as they got older anyway… just a fact of life these days 🙂
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Love that they came to you with a well thought out proposal. You are teaching them to logically present their opinions/requests! I can see the benefit of screen time since it is social time for them. I have relaxed our screen time rules during the pandemic out of necessity. Especially when Pablo was home with us and we were both working full time. I felt so much guilt but felt better hearing that other parents were making similar decisions. It is interesting to think back on our childhoods when there wasn’t an emphasis on screen time!!
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such a funny way to ask for extra screen time. I’d be intrigued to hear mine to ask me one day. For me, despite that their friends seem to be having screen time every day, that shouldn’t be a reason that they get too. I’d rather they play imaginatively, read, and help the helper to do chores, than doing screen time. But I fully respect other people’s decision as we all have different values.
I use colors in my journal, 1 or 2, it makes a difference. 🙂
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When I was a kid, we had “family meetings”. And a running agenda was kept in a notebook in the calendar drawer (yes, there was such a thing) for anyone to add topics. (Note: When I started one, I inevitably misspelled it “adgenda” :>). It was hilarious at times to look back and see what we thought was important! But it was so nice to have a calm family discussion about something that was important to someone (whether or not it was important to everyone else was not considered, of course!). Your kids seem to be advocating for something they want – and i love how you discussed, then had the parental discussion, then went back to them with an answer. Such a nice way of doing things!
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That is such a great idea! I like the concept of a running agenda- sometimes things come up that I think of that we should discuss as a family at some point, but then I forget… that would be a good method to help with that.
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