The TV Experiment

g and i decided that we'd had enough of the t.v.  and that the path to family happiness and contentment lay in trashing the beast.  

all weekend, we peppered our conversations before d with hints that 'the t.v. wasn't working correctly' and that 'it may have to spend some time in the repair shop'.  so, sunday night g unplugged the t.v. and wrestled it downstairs.  

i had no idea how it was going to go over with d.  well, i think we did a pretty good job with the hints, because monday morning he came down the stairs and saw the abyss....and had no comment whatsoever. which, if you know my kid, is a big deal. 

the day went by relatively smoothly.  we had a playdate over the lunch hour and then a long nap, so there we lots of distractions that helped.  i'm feeling confident that this will be easy! yeah, check back in a couple days! i'm afraid this may be harder for me than for the kids. after the kids were in bed last night, i actually reached for the remote -old habits. there's always the internet to entertain and inform me...but i have this feeling that maybe i should impose a 'real' media fast -well, a screen media fast at least...because how effective is this experiment if i just substitute one escapist vehicle with another?  

well, it's day two now, i'm on the computer again...obviously.  but even this little bit of respite from the black box has effected me.  i feel less harried, like there are miraculously more hours in the day!  i feel less self-aware; less stressed..somehow i'm comparing myself to others less, i'm not feeling as covetous and judgmental as before. wow, only from one day without t.v.  i'm excited about this; and maybe we'll make this a permanent thing!  although i miss project runway and my dvd fix!

Feh, I'm so tired

why why why is my son getting up three times a night again? he has not slept through the night since mid june. i'm so flippin crabby. enough......

i know it's only the beginning of august, but already things seem to be leaning toward fall. the new shiny school supplies are in the stores. i took a good long drag off a box of crayons yesterday at target...couldn't help myself! i feel like there's so much that still needs to be done before we "close up the house", as we do when it gets cold around here. i need to get the children's wardrobes straightened away- i.e. swap out the summer for the winter; and get them some decent shoes. jeez, they're not even in school and i'm lusting after 'proper school shoes'. you know the kind; with a nice stiff leather sole...and a book bag to match. cute!

Trying not to eat everything in the house

i thought i was doing pretty well. Ho! Must be 'that time of the month', because nothing is sacred or safe. at least it's not total junk, but it may as well be. i've done a complete diet backslide in the last two months. the weight that *had* come off...is back. damn it. i feel lousy again and i know it's because of the things i've been eating. too much sugar, too many cheap fixes. so stop. resolve to do better tomorrow. it's the only thing i can do. by the way...i Love these dishes. Modern by CB2. they stack together, so minimalist-cool.

if only i could keep my own plate that empty.

Thank God he only said "old".

We were on a little family bike ride/walk this morning. When we turned the corner, we saw a lady sweeping the sidewalk about halfway down the block. D yelled out, "out of the way old lady"! Thank God she had a sense of humor. I tried to do the obligatory "oh, you shouldn't say that, and oh, tut tut...that's not a nice thing to say". But damn it, that was funny.

holy blog-less

Yeah, not a lot of free time in the past few months. The kids are huge, but busier than ever. D is in summer camp. He loves it. So do I...obviously. More and more lately I miss the time I used to have by myself. D would nap 3 hours in the afternoon (I know I'm spoiled); and I could be inside my head for that time. In addition I had the luxury of an afternoon completely to myself once a week when D would visit his Grammie. Well, now that kid 2.0 is here, things are different. M is still nursing (not much tho), and can't stand to be left without me for more than an hour at a time. Ugh. Plus, the afternoon naps are almost at an end....besides do you think they have the courtesy to nap at the same time...not bloody likely. Still, things could be worse. At least my tubes are tied! Ha!

Things I've learned

• Keep a garbage can in every room.
• Don't even think about buying clothes that need an iron or a dry-cleaner.
• A cordless vacuum is a gift from the gods.
• I CAN brush my teeth at the kitchen sink.
• I CAN get dressed directly from the laundry basket; in the living room; working to avoid open blinds.
• Patterned socks are much easier to match to each other then the slightly different-textured and varying degrees of black sock we used to have.
• I don't answer the phone unless i really want to.
• Unless i want to spend the weekend picking up thousands of pieces of plastic, I will no longer buy Lego or Playmobil toys.
• If D hasn't played with something in a month, I put it in a "purgatory box"; if he hasn't asked for it in another month...bye-bye toy.
• If I don't use something at least once a month, I'll toss it or donate it because I've learned that I hate dealing with the cursed thing. I scowl when I have to clean around it or move it to get at something else, I hate looking at it... This is so liberating; I can borrow those few things I'll need once in a great while (like a fish poacher). with a new baby, I've discovered that the hairdryer falls under this category of little-used-goods. so, goodwill, expect a hairdryer soon.
• Although I can find most information on-line these days, it's hard to get rid of beloved old books. I still have a soft spot for a dog-eared old atlas and musty old Encyclopaedias.
  

Good Advice

"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

I had so little sleep last night, yet trying to worry about whether I'll ever sleep again serves only to make me cry.