I woke up this morning to the boys and their friends yelling at each other. All over an X-Box game. Asking them (I might have raised my voice a bit) to bring down the controllers and their phones, one can imagine the disrespect that followed. The shortness, the impatience, the crankiness, the irritability in their tone of voice sent me off the edge. Did I tell you that it was all over a video game? So, I did what any other cool mom would do; I locked their phones, controllers and all electronics in our safe without fighting back with the crazy.
And the amazing thing happened. They went outside.
Hours later, they were still outside. Having so much fun, they even forgot to eat lunch. They fished, jumped in the pond, went kayaking, they played with Peanut (our lab) in the water, and they got dirty.
They played. And they played all day.
With dirt in their nails, mud on their shoes, sweat pouring down their face, they continued to play. They played whiffle ball, basketball, and swam in the pond some more. The girls put on a karaoke show and ran through the sprinkler. I was even thrilled when the boys beamed tennis balls at each other – remembering the priceless kick-ball days in the street with my bother and the neighborhood kids. Those were the best “games” ever! They beat video games any day.
Creativity was unlocked, conversations actually took place and they smiled and laughed without a care in the world. The squeals, the giggles and the screams from outside as they played made my heart skip a beat while cooking dinner. I have a feeling, I will have to be asking them to come inside tonight just like the days when I played outside from dawn until dusk.
I don’t need case studies to tell me the impact and the addiction that comes from video games and electronics on kids, I did my own home-study today. When I locked the electronics in the safe, the impatience, the crankiness, the irritability, and all the fighting vanished. They were happy. Playing without a schedule and without a phone in their face, they were kids today. They had fun. And that made it one fantastic day!
I may just do the same thing with mine…and see what happens!
Jill Allen
Fitness & Mindset Coach
Wife & Mom of 5
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