When you’re a parent, there are so many loving moments and wonderful times shared with your kids every single day. This post is not about those moments. Monday, my son and I had a stand-off reminiscent of the “Eat My Shorts” scene of the The Breakfast Club. In an epic battle of low, public, whisper yelling (by me) and back-talk (by my usually sweet kindergartener), I finished the argument by growling, “That’s it! No TV for the rest of the week!” It flew out of my mouth and my regret was immediate. This punishment really IS going to hurt me more than it hurts my son. You see, I have loved TV my whole life. There, I said it. I know you’re not supposed to love TV and I often pretend that I don’t watch as much as I do. It’s shameful to plop your kids in front of the TV. But if I need a few minutes to get dinner on the table, get a load of laundry folded, vacuum up the dog hair, a little PBS-Sprout keeps everyone occupied. While putting the baby to bed, Kung Fu Panda is just the trick to keep my son out of her room. With my hot-headed reaction to some bad behavior, I have taken away my 30 minutes of afternoon/evening babysitting.
“Mess with the Bull, You Get the Horns!”
Monday night, when both kids were in bed, I was drinking a beer and sadly recounting the post swimming lesson verbal battle to my husband. After telling of the horror of no TV for a week, my husband replied, “Ah, it’ll be good for all of us.” Yeah, says the guy who gets home at six every night. So, we’re in for some Little House on the Prairie fun this week. We do have soccer and swimming in the afternoons. Other than that, maybe we finally need to learn how to can or bake bread.
Ma and Pa Ingalls
What kind of low-tech, Little House on the Prairie, Amish fun should we have this week?
ninjaneermomjeans 
Smiling as I comment. You really have loved TV your whole life, and you must have been extremely provoked to let this edict spill out! Of course, you will both enjoy spending some quiet time playing some of his games, putting puzzles together and, yes, baking cookies! Have fun! (still grinning!) jb
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I was provoked! Turns out I’m not alone though. I looked around at the end of Wednesday’s swimming lesson and there were multiple moms whisper threatening their own children. Interestingly, the dads that were there just grab the wet kid (even if they’re not themselves swimming) and do the struggle drag into the locker rooms. It didn’t seem like the dads did the, “Ok, you have 5 more minutes and then we go.” At Go-time they just went.
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Luckily, the girls and I are reading the “Little House” series before bedtime so I have lots of helpful tips. In the book we are currently reading Laura, Carrie, and Grace spent time blacking the stove (I don’t know what that means) and starching/ironing the curtains. In the winter, they spent time hand grinding wheat in a coffee mill. You’re welcome.
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I knew it I could count on you! I remember you mentioning that Mary Ingells went blind from scarlet fever. It’s nice to know I have solidarity in my LHOTP love.
Ah, and I think I have some insight into “blackening the stove.” When I was heating up a frozen pizza last week the instructions say, “For a crispier crust, put pizza directly on the rack.” Who doesn’t want a crispier crust? But no less than half the cheese from the pizza is in a black smokey goo ball in the bottom of my oven. I’m not sure if that’s what the Ingells were doing, but I can check it off my list.
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How about boiling wool?
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Auntie, it is lambing season, not shearing season. Hahahaha! I know this, because during “Little House on the Praire” week, we toured a sheep farm to look at lambs. I am now armed with sheep facts from the sheep show! Thank goodness the TV moritorium is over!
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[…] Last week while trying to leave the swimming pool, I got in a verbal scuffle with my son and took aw… Well, this ended up being the rest of the work week. I folded like a napkin on Saturday morning and electricity magically returned to the TV. Though the week wasn’t as bad I had imagined, there were tough moments. There was a half an hour every night when I was putting the baby to bed that I really missed having everyone in a TV trance. There was also some whining and a bit of a fit on Friday night and my son was pretty sad too (hehehe). But, in the spirit of Little House on the Prairie, we did something pretty great. There is a springtime event at a local sheep farm called “The Running of the Lambs.” Kids get to feed the ewes and then the new lambs go on a wild romp every night while their moms are having dinner. […]
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