Media Fast

So we had a media fast this last month.  And while by the end, we weren't all as enthusiastic as we had started out, everyone had agreed to do it and give it a whirl and it was insightful!  They all entered into it with a pretty optimistic, open scientific look at it.  It wasn't a moral decision, more the nature of an experiment:
-what would it be like?
-what would we miss the most?
-would it change anything?

What was it like?
At first it was really quiet.  There were a lot of requests for media with an "oh yah...media fast" to follow.  The requests died off pretty quick and the kids noticed they were distracted less by the computer since it just sat there in the corner of the dining room for the whole month.
We started singing together as we cleaned up dinner and the Goob noticed that clean up went more smoothly since there wasn't music blasting all through it. (His words.)  Evenings were slower paced and our times together felt more peaceful (to me ;D).

What would we miss the most?
For Liliputian, music.
For Hava, family history.
Pipalicious didn't miss the distraction of having it as a possibility.
The Goob was really awesome about it but I think he missed not being able to access all the things he liked to access immediately upon thinking about it.  The music was particularly hard for him.
Q-dawg said he was pretty much good with whatever, which is what most of the kids thought.
Papaya definitely the movies.
Many times we wanted to look up some bit of information but it didn't happen as often as I thought it would.  We would reference different parts of movies or youtube videos we had previously watched but it was enough, somehow, to just remember them and share the laugh or emotion that went with them.
Me?  I missed Yoga with Adrienne, listening to conference talks while cleaning, and music but also came to enjoy the silence, which leads me to the next part.

Would it change anything?
I realized how much the constant stimulus of music and media affected my little ones.  They started talking more and not just talking.  It was like their little spirits were given a little breathing room and they shared insights and spiritual truths that I didn't realize they would understand or articulate.

I realized that I really do trust and like my older kids' sense of music and media and their ability to select it for themselves.  I love the incredible media opportunities for learning, sharing, healing, sustaining and uplifting that my older kids use to bless their lives and the lives of others.   However, I also realized that I needed to moderate what is filtered down to the little minds to let them develop free from being bombarded from stimulus.  And the cool thing is that my older kids get it and don't seem to resent the little ones for it.

We are now using our media intentionally.  It is just not a default and they have to log-on to our computer using a sign-up sheet with their name, intended use, estimated time and the actual completion of the task.  Electronic devices are accessible through a password that they need from me to use for specific things and then returned after.  The older they get, the more unlimited their access. And when they leave the home (like at friend's houses and at the library) it is open season. 

The kids all seem cool with our new way of doing things and it feels right for now. I am sure it will change as our needs change!

Papaya-isms and Family Memories on video

A couple of weeks ago we were watching "Fireproof," a powerful Christian film about marriage and loyalty, with a husband addicted to pornography and a wife who pursues a flirtatious relationship with another man.  At one point, the man is fierce and in his wife's face...it is pretty intense.

After watching that part, Papaya commented, "That reminds me of Daddy when he is mad at me."  We all were speechless, because none of us have ever seen Q-dawg like that.  The closest he got was when he tried to choke me in my sleep--when he himself was having a nightmare and I was part of it. (A large spider was covering my face in his dream and he was killing it...I was awakened by a very intense Q-dawg face over me as he aggressively pressed down on my shoulders.  Super scary!  Glad he woke up soon!)  She sure is cute!  We all chuckled a little and it made me  think about how scary it can be to kids even when their parents are frustrated or upset with them.  Something to think about! I am definitely more like this man than Q-dawg is...funny Papaya!

A short while later in the film, the man is caught watching pornography as his wife walks in. When one of the other kids came in right then and asked what was happening, Papaya turned to them and informed them solemnly that the man was doing geography and it was very bad.

Love that girl!
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We have a fun tradition instigated by Q-dawg to determine who gets first dibs at the dinner help.  Whoever gets it right first, gets to pick first; second place picks second...and so on.

I also LOVE it when the kids pick the "Happy Family" song for a pre-meal song:

Our morning on April 9th

Lek, Q-dawg and Avot are in the other room, chuckling over radioactive dating.  "You should never trust radioactive dating, (Avot)," Q-dawg admonished.  "Other wise, your kids will be mutated. Oh wait.  This is the other kind."  Love science with Daddy!

The waffle iron (or the plugs) are not working so we are having "p-affles," waffle batter cooked up like pancakes.  Meanwhile, I am heating up water on the stove top to supplement the warm water in the bathtub, where Chugger-dude and Pipalicious have been playing with legos and animals for the past 30 minutes.  I am hoping to have some warm water left for a shower after they are done :)...cross your fingers!  I did a "run/jog/lumber" to the store this morning on one of my semi-weekly jaunts, and, guess what?  It counts as my exercise!

(Avot just walked in, and, with her usual flair with words, said, "How about "wancakes?"  Love it!)

As romantic and different as it is, I am not so sure I will miss having to light a match (and sometimes two) every time I want to use the stove or oven :).

Hava is my newsreporter.  The Goob just stepped away from his post at the "paffles" and Hava came to me and said, "(The Goob) is not cooking."  This is the next update following her last, excited one: "There is green soap in the bathroom!"  Cool beans.

Liliputian just discovered how many toys I have in my "time out" box, and has been busily earning them back, one at a time.  When the kids leave toys out, I have decided I am done with nagging.  I will leave them out for a little while (depending upon my mood and depending upon whether I have already asked them to "clean up"), and then put them in a box in a shelf.  This box is a great source of "blanket time" treasures, as well, serving this other great purpose: for blanket time, they will have a little window of "special time" to play with the treasured toy, making that time all the more wonderful.  I have loved blanket time the last few days.  They sit on their blankets in the room around me, and I can get up to five kids on their blankets, all sleeping or playing happily by themselves, in their own little blanket world, while I nurse, read, or study.  It really is a little eerie how well it works with my usual rambunctious kids!

Anyway, back to the "earning toys back," Hava was quick to jump on doing what Liliputian was doing since all her ponies are in the "time out box," all thirty or so of them!  It has been a nice couple of weeks for me not tripping or stepping on them, I have to say :).

Papaya is busily snitching paffles whenever our back is turned.

The Goob is keeping me entertained with his ongoing dialogue about what he is going to save up for and how he is going to call the pale orc in "The Hobbit" "the White Ape."  He is quite the chatter-box, but it is fun to listen to.  He has quite the imagination and a gift for creating, making people laugh, and building.  Right now, I am sitting next to a cup of bones left over from our "conference feast" last night.  The Goob saved them out so that he can make a necklace and ring of bones. 

Oh, and apparently, he is not going to go vegetarian, despite his decision last night at dinner, after our feast of chicken bone-in breasts and mashed potatoes.  Never a dull moment with his mind!

Got some nice hugs from my kids this morning. I am so glad the ones that are here are still here.  This morning on my walk, I had a little "talk" with my little Isaak.  10 year ago today was our last day on earth with him.  Lots of emotion with that one.  Q-dawg and I plan on spending the day remembering him and enjoying our time we have right now with the kids we have here on earth.  Picnic dinner, walk to the woods, home videos...10 years ago, we had waffles for breakfast and our little guy was so happy that he "got a whole circle one!"  P-affles will have to do :).  They are circular :).

We emailed a few people in Utah to visit his grave for us today.  It is hard not being there, but I am grateful for loved ones who will vicariously honor that beautiful little life there for us.

The resurrection is real.