Wednesday, July 7, 2010

loss of imagination is tragic at age 5

We have a bit of a problem in our house. It's a result of too much TV/movies/Wii/etc. Ethan has forgotten how to play and use his imagination and as you can imagine, I am sinking under the weight of the guilt. I know this is mostly my fault--being at home all day with a highly curious and talkative kid wears me down and many times it is easier to just point him to the nearest electronic. It also doesn't help that now I have two crazy kids trying to kill each other all day and said electronics really lower the intensity level of life.

He just had a gigantic meltdown due to never getting what he wants (HA!) so I have taken all electronics away. Now I'm screwed because I don't know what to do all day. Help me readers!

What do you do with your kids? Do you play with them all day? Do you provide activities for them and let them loose? I admit, I am not much of a playing mom. I don't enjoy it and I'm not good at it. I will read to you and do crafts and you can always count on me to get my hair wet at the pool but I will not build legos with you and I will not play cars. So where does this leave me?

The irony of all this is that I regularly watch TV while using the computer. I am just as guilty of overusing electronics as Ethan is. I told him that I would try to cut way down on my consumption as well, that we could do it together. That seemed to help a little.

BTW, we have a finished basement full of toys and that is still not enticing enough for them to play. They much prefer to be within a two foot radius of me all day and it is making me bananas! I need to get this playing situation ironed out so I can restore order in this house!

2 comments:

Jill said...

Rachel- We struggle with this too. Though I find it is even worse when there is just one of them. I am not a good "player" either. I wish i had ideas, but text me if you want to meet at the beach, we are always up for that!

brittany said...

go to the pool, take lessons of some sort through the community (swimming, soccer, tennis, etc), go on walks on nearby trails, make your own puzzles (color then cut up), go to local museums on the free admission days, make home made play dough (there are even edible recipes), cook/bake together, go to the park and swing, play dress up, have them put on skits while you are the audience, go on a bike ride....thats all i can think of at the moment. i think its awesome that u agreed to cut back on electronics with him.