Introducing.....No TV Tuesdays!

We had a great day today! But, first the backstory. I nonchalantly told James yesterday that we should have "No TV Tuesdays". He had been on the computer ALOT over the weekend. I signed him up at the Marvel comics "Super Hero Squad" free online games and he was obsessed with doing his "missions". He is able to use the mouse, tap the 4 arrow keys and hit the spacebar to move his player and make him do stuff. He didn't really eat that much and he got a little cranky. When we did our lessons yesterday he could not/would not draw a straight line on a piece of paper. He said he didn't like to color. And I'm thinking, "This kid can multi-task with this computer game but he can't/won't draw a straight line on a piece of paper?". Not my kid. So. No TV Tuesdays. I like illiteration and since yesterday was Monday....it worked. He asked if that meant no computer too and I told him, "Yep. No screens. No TV screens and no computer screens. It's bad for your eyes and rots your brain a little." I heard not one complaint from him. When Chris got home, the first thing James told him was, "Dad! No screams tomorrow. No TV and no computer". This morning, he didn't turn on the TV. We sat in the living room. I had my coffe and he had his chocolate milk. No TV. He says to me, "That scream just staring at me is really weird". I smiled and told him, "Yeah, it's a little strange"....and then he reached under the coffee table and grabbed one of his "My Big Backyard" magazines and started looking through it. He sat there with his legs crossed. Too adorable. He found another one and brought it to me to read to him. A little later, as I ate my cereal at the kitchen table he pulled up a chair so we could "talk about stuff". It was wonderful! He wanted to know ALL about my childhood: What toys did I have, what games did I play, did my house have stairs, what color was my bed, did I play on the computer, what cartoons did I watch, did I ever get any boo-boos and how did I deal with them, did I have a dog and what did she look like, what kind of snacks did MawMaw give me when I was a kid....and the conversation went like that for a while. It was great. Then we decided we would take Sparky for a walk after a game of Candyland upstairs. He let me hold him in my lap and let me kiss him and squeeze him. I called him my baby and of course he replies that he is NOT a baby. I told him that even when he is bigger than me I will say to Chris, "Look Shug, here comes our baby" and when he is a man with a wife and children of his own I will STILL call him "my baby". Then he wanted to know why I was old (what!?!) and how come I am so skinny. I am not sure how he understands that I am skinny. We've never talked about that before. I told him I was born that way and that I played outside ALOT when I was a kid. I eat well too. I downloaded 3 read-to-me books (2 free, one not) onto my Nook for him so he could read while I showered. He read for a while then I heard him playing outside his room. We had a great time at the park walking Sparky. James held the leash. Sparky stayed with him. I think the most challenging time of No TV Tuesday was lunch time and beyond. He got cranky at lunch time and so to quite time he went. He likes to try out sayings to see what happens like telling me, "You're mean!" and gives me his mean face. Then he says to me, "I just need some peace and quiet from you ok?" What????? Ok, sure. No cookie for you then. I am a mean mommy remember? Oh you want me to respond to your crying about the cookie? Um, I am giving you some of that peace and quiet little dude. Backfired on him just a little. Cranky-pants post-quite time was much better. He brought me a Justice League comic book for me to read to him. And the icing on the cake was that Regan and Hunter were both home and he got to play outside! They were using his Star Wars light sabers when I was pulling out of the driveway to go to work. :) James only "cheated" once today. I grabbed my phone to take to work and the game he plays was running. Busted! But that's ok. He caught me checking email on my phone at the end of quiet time. He said, "Mommy! No screams!". Right, right. Even Chris is participating. Love it! They had a raucous game of Candyland when he came home. I heard James telling Chris, "See ya sucker!" and then Chris was laugh and say, "I'm winning!" and it goes back and forth like that. Ah good times. So now we have something to look forward to tomorrow. Dinosaur Train for sure in the morning and maybe a little computer time for both of us. I think this is the start of something beautiful!