The Experiment - Update

This is the best shot I could get of Amie with her haircut..... kids messed up the camera.

Thanks for the encouraging noises Sal and Marie. Well we went and did it last week, and amazingly (to me) the kids didn't ask to watch tv or go on the computer ONCE during the day. I was really surprised by this, as it seems to be just a reflex they have developed to request to have these things on. Noah was really sweet though, that evening when he'd had his bath and I was getting him dressed

Noah:"Is today still Scream day (he calls it that rather than screen day)"
Bren "Yes"
Noah "We're not allowed to put on TV or computer when it's scream day"
Bren "No we don't, do you know why mammy and daddy have made a screen day".. as I was frantically trying to think of a reason that would keep a 3 year old happy, Noah suprised me by coming out with this...
Noah "Is it so Amie and me will be happier?"

I just had to give him a big hug, and tell him, yes, exactly, that was the reason. How wise of a 3 year old to see it :)

The day passed uneventfully enough, we made a shopping trip to Reading..came home and made pancakes for lunch. Then we took the kids out to Tesco on the bikes rather than in the car (anything to kill an hour) then when we got home I got out the glue and crafty stuff, and ended up making Thank You card (mostly by myself I must admit).. Amie was busy painting a box she'd been given for Christmas, and Noah seemed content to decorate a picture frame with stickers of fish. I must admit the arts and crafts thing is a bit stressful for me, I have to resist the urge to correct the kids on how they're doing things if they're not doing it "properly". I will have to tone down that urge, and just let them get on with it... and ignore Noah trying to open the glue bottle with his mouth.

I admit we did let them watch Scooby Doo before bed, so it wasn't a total screen free day. And I caved while minding the bikes outside Tesco and went on facebook on my iPhone... BUT... I really enjoyed the day. Not having the soft option of getting them to amuse themselves with tv/pc made us actively think about how we could keep them occuipied during the day.. making pancakes and doing crafts are things we normally wouldn't bother doing, but it was good fun.

Let's see how it goes tomorrow!