Like Two Peas in an Escape Pod

On Friday afternoon after a particularly trying homework session, Noah began a downward spiral of negative self-talk.  From him I heard, “Why did God have to make me this way?”… “I have no friends.”… “I try to talk to kids, but they just don’t understand anything I say.”

My knee jerk response was to tell him that God made each one of us to have special gifts and challenges.  And, although I may not always know how to help him with his struggles, I promised to be tireless in my search to find someone who could.

That evening I contacted my friend to see if her son, Ross, could come over to hang out with Noah.  Although he is 2 ½ years younger than Noah, it’s a good match as Ross has similar interests and both boys fall somewhere on the awesome spectrum.

Ross was over the moon to see Noah…so much so he made him a card. On the inside of the card he wrote, "I really like you and I am playing the Wii and I like skating with you.  I really like spending time with you."

Front of Card

Back of Card

On the car ride over Noah said, “Ross, I organized my room to make it easier for us to play in."  

(Hmmm...not a typical way for a 9 year old to start up a convo, but Ross didn't seem to notice. And, by "I" I think Noah meant "my mom" but no need to get picky with the details.) 

A short time after we arrived at our place, Ross asked me if he could come back to our house in 7 days. 

(I think my heart grew 3 sizes.)

Although the two boys see each other very infrequently, they quickly began talking “LEGO shop” and then settled in on a game of R2D2 Trouble.  Next, they decided to play the Wii.  

Noah asked Ross, “Would you like me to put them in two rows or three rows?”  

“Two rows,” replied Ross.  

Apparently, Noah not only thought it necessary to remove each and every Wii game from the T.V. cabinet, he also believed it best to carefully place them into rows, prior to making a game selection.  But, the best part was that Ross was completely onboard with the protocol.

A few minutes into playing on the Wii, Noah announced that he was going to play in his room by himself and Ross didn't seem concerned at all.  However, I told both boys that they could spend 15 minutes doing their own thing, but then they’d have to find something to do together.  Both agreed without complaint and went on to enjoy a lightsaber duel and a few games of LEGO Ninjago.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Decisions...decisions

A Tweet Thought

Day 4 of Screen Free = no big whoop


This morning while watching the birds from our front window, Natalie asked, "Mom, do birds have TV's?"

"I don't think so," I said

"Maybe they have a secret TV...in their nests," she said.

"What kinds of shows do they watch?" I asked.

"Bird shows!" she responded confidently.

Screen Free Week

April 30 – May 6^th is Screen Free Week (formally TV Turn off Week)

Turning off the TV is no real challenge for me, as it has been at least two weeks since I last watched a program.  However, my kids will probably revolt a bit.  They don’t watch a lot of TV but, it comes in handy when Noah wakes for the day at 4 a.m.  I may have to lift the TV/video game ban during the hours of 3 a.m. – 6 a.m. for my own sanity. I don’t have a smartphone or even a data plan for texting, so that’s no problem. Though, I will miss my computer.   I don’t know if I can go completely cold turkey, as I rely on email for my job and in communicating with my children’s teachers, etc.  Instead, I plan to cut out the hour of TV the kids would normally watch after dinner, and replace it with family game time.  I’ve got a slew of classic games that have gotten a bit dusty like Jenga, Trouble (ours is the R2D2 version) and Candy Land. Also, the kids are now at perfect ages to learn some new cards games like Slap Jack and War.  In the evenings, after the kids go to bed, I plan to use the time I would normally spend on Facebook or playing Words with Friends, to finish the books I’m reading or maybe have Steve teach me a new card game. 

Here’s the link for more information about the campaign

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/whatissfw.htm