Waste of a Perfectly Good Brain

Touchy subject... I know... but someone needs to talk about it. Kids and Video Games. AAAAAH! Some people say it's ok in moderation. Some people use it as their own live in babysitter. And then there are those people that allow their kids to play hours on end. I personally HATE video games with a passion. Not just because I'm awful at it and I can't figure out which buttons do what on the control, but because to me they are a waste of a perfectly good brain.

My kids can sit and play for hours if I would let them. I know this because when they go to Granny's house that's all they do. Day and NIGHT till the wee hours of the morning. Can you imagine how much smarter and well developed they would be if they were reading, playing with lego's, puzzles, or playing outside for crying out loud!!

In an attempt to encourage healthy summer habits I've implemented a 30 minute a day reading rule. For 30 minutes a day everyone finds a quiet little spot and picks up a book (or kindle). Of course this doesn't happen without protest from those little boys. But truth be told once they are lost in the pages 30 minuets fly by and they've lost track of time. 45 minutes go by and not a single peep from either of them. I LOVE IT! Reading was such a big part of my life growing up and it still is. I still LOVE getting a new book and no matter what's going on in my life and how busy I get I look forward to getting lost in those delicious pages.

This is just the cusp of what's to come for my children in the next few months. Protest, they will... but I'm not going to budge on this one. Interest in reading, writing, and art are just a few things that they struggle with when they have a thing called Moder Warfare III taking over their minds.

I'm taking control and saying bye bye to those violent video games, and hello creative minds. :)

Wild Child

Every family has ONE kid who marches to the beat of their own drum, is resilient, head strong, excitable, emotional, unpredictable, and powered by a battery the size of Texas! The so called "Wild Child". In my case... mine happens to be 5 years old, sneaky, fearless, persuasive and cute as a button. That's actually a recipe for disaster in a sense that this little cutie can get away with practically anything he puts his sneaky little mind to.

You can bet your bottom dollar that he'll put up a fight when it comes to the simplest of tasks. Mornings are a busy mother's nightmare. Getting a fiesty 5 year old dressed and out the door for school on time is nothing short of a miracle. He's usually the kid I have to drag out of bed by his toes while I scramble to find a clean uniform to dress him in.  Add 2 older brothers to the mix and I can almost guarantee I'll have threatened, bribed, and lost my cool with at least one (if not all) of them during the 45 minute span between their wake up call and reversing my car out of the driveway. And naturally SOMETHING or someone is always forgotten.

The neighbors cat was shaved? I think I know who did it. The ENTIRE of bag of dog food was mysteriously poured out into the lawn? I've got ONE guess who's responsible. One thing I do love about these sticky situations and the culprit behind the incident... he always fesses up. :) "Uh, yeah, that was me. Are you mad at me now?" That line ALWAYS gets me.

Needless to say I probably made him this way. He's got me wrapped about his sticky little WILD CHILD fingers.