I Had To Do It

what a great story!

We have a tv in the family room and the boys have been begging for one in their room. It's such a problem to get their attention sometimes so I know if I put one in their room, I'm just begging for problems. I go ballistic when the 7 year old says "i'm bored, what am I supposed to do now" I need to stay calm. Thanks for sharing this and not going ballistic.

well done, great mom-ing.
love real stories. thanks.
i have too many real stories to share right now. but feeling a little more normal reading yours.

WOW! This sounds a lot like my house!! We have toys and Legos but they seem to prefer the sqwak box (ie - TV). I tell them over and over that they have lots of toys and puzzles and games and crafty stuff they don't touch. Then I suggest getting rid of and dismantling their play area so *I* can have a scrapbook area. Sometimes.....that'll do it :) Good luck, stay strong ....and pick your mommy moments to remember....it makes all that fuss worth it.

First, love the display case for the Lego minifigs. I bought a few since seeing your post with the photos inside and now that my oldest son (almost 10) is into Lego people, this would be a great idea to keep them out to see but also, off of the floor!
Second, congrats to Simon for eating stuff he doesnt normally like and reading books he really enjoys. Small victories are still VICTORIES!!!

Sidenote: My little Spunky {along with my other 2 kidlets} loooove Scooby Doo and she says, "Creeper" in the same exact voice as on the show. I find it amazing that somehow, eventually, my kids, too, seem to find something better to do than watching TV. They don't always like it.

So cool that Simon's reading Fantastic Mr. Fox...it's one of our faves, and the movie! Well, I put it in my top 5 all time favorites. It truly fills me up. Bulpus bulpus!

I am thinking spaghetti and meatballs tonight because last night I served lamb chops and quinoa casserole...the fam was not cheering to say the least.

Have a great day, Ali. Thanks for the sweet story...I loved reading it. :)

i wish there were a "like" button for blogs ;) it's lovely to be able to see what a typical day is in anyone else's life, especially a parent. thank you for sharing with us Ali, as always you motivate and inspire me!

Hi Ali,

My 6 year old son is the same way about our Wii. He gets the bloodshot eyes too (and never wants to quit playing). Love the idea of the lego men in the case. Can you tell me where you got the poster on Simon's door with the Star Wars lego characters? Thanks!

Yay for you for limiting TV and video time. I have 2 teenage boys and that's one of the best things we have done. Not easy but so necessary!

love this post! thank you for sharing. i saw your "photo life instagram" you posted. love it too. i'm new to this i-mac world and would love a tutorial on how to print out a photo strip for my project life album. i've played around with the program and can't figure this out. on another note, i'm starting on week 11 of my p.l. and i love the process so much. just like you, i'm totally amazed that i've kept up with this project consistently. every day, i'm looking for something that i can incorporate into my album. thank you for all you do. you are such an inspiration to so many people.

Totally sounds like a day in the life at my house with my 2 kids- a 2 year old daughter and almost 6 year old son (who is an AVID Scoob fan!!). It is always nice when the day ends on a happy note, especially when my son holds my face in his hands and tell me that he loves me! My daughter loves my son's old toys, too!
Love your photo case, btw! What a wonderful idea!

Oh boy we are going through the same thing with our 10 year old son.

Because his interests are so intense and he is very rigid, cutting back the computer time has been very hard. We brought in a ABA therapist to help us with this, reinforcers, not being so rigid,picky eating, etc. I pray this will help him. If it was up to him he would be on the computer and Wii all.day.long. I know this because after a meltdown MOM had with 4 other kids it turned into that. I felt so bad.

He just sits on the couch lost, not sure what to do with himself since the computer and researching an viewing movies is his interest. That's when I grab the other kids and engage them all. It's starting to work!

Thank you for posting this. I needed to see that our household is not the only one who goes through these days :)

Oh boy did this bring back memories of our Tim...the Taz as we called him back then...short for the Tazmanian Devil because the fits he'd throw. Like you I chose to concentrate on the good parts of the days and learned that I couldn't control anything so I just stopped trying and he helped me learn to not react to his actions and reactions. Feeding into it only made it worse. Some days were easier than others for sure...but afterall we are human...lol I have also kept some of my kids toys...even after downsizing to the Love Shack (all 687 sq. ft. of it ;) I've got their Legos and Construct tucked in storage for my grandbabies. Now that Tim is married I'm hoping to have them in a few years ;) Hang in there...it does get better with age and now the Taz is a happily married, rocket scientist!!!

ugghhh...can definitely relate to the kid(s) not wanting to quit doing something. When my youngest was little everything was a battle - especially bath time. She'd be in the tub for an hour if I'd let her, whether the water was cold or not. I finally got a kitchen timer and sat down and explained to her that we have limited time and that 20 minutes was her allotted time for bathing. When the timer went off, it wasn't Mom yelling at her to get out, it was the timer letting her know it was over. It took the battle away from "me vs. her" to the timer being the bad guy. Maybe you could try something like this to limit the Wii gaming time?

Thanks for sharing your Monday story. We have very similar Wii issues and experiences in our house. Thanks for the Scooby Link, my son will love that. I too am shockingly under-informed on important Scooby, Star Wars, Pokemon and Mario Brothers details.

TV is a tough one. I sometimes let mine watch more than I intend to because it allows me to get my work done. (I'm a part-time work-from-home mom, but she stays with me all day.) I know if I just left it off she would find other ways to amuse herself though.

Love the idea of the print shelf...need to dig mine out to help with my 11 yr olds legos! We have many issues with executive functioning and need storage ideas that are right in front of him for what's important to him. So know those fits/moments....persistence pays off! We can now identify behaviors and reminders of what will happen if we don't follow the household rules or limits, and what the consequences are for fits around them (particularly video games and tv time). Amazing what it took us 6-7 years to accomplish but it is so worth the tears and grey hairs to get there! Thanks for sharing.

Reading about the meltdown makes me appreciate that I'm in an empty nest now and those type games weren't available when my kids were young. We lived in the country and they made games out of sticks or playing ball outdoors, taking hikes, etc. Hmmm, might make for a great blog post......you jogged my memory Ali!
I love your use of the printer's drawer for the legos. I had one of those filled with tiny animal figures that my kids would pick me up for birthdays and Christmas. I decided it was time to pass it on down the line to my oldest son.
LOVED everything about your post!

Love Anna's dress....can you share where its from?