TV and Children

When I was a kid, there were cartoons on Saturday morning, and that's IT. We were in the "dark ages" compared to my friends with Cable TV, and at the time I was totally embarrassed that we were so behind the times. Now I am very grateful to my parents for being so cheap!

I have some thoughts on kids and TV. Of course, I think it's bad. Who doesn't? Well...obviously not many people. It seems the "in" thing to say how bad TV is and how you wish your kids would stop watching it so much, but how many parents do I know who are acting on what they say? ONE. And that's my sister because she enrolled my niece in a Waldorf School, which is a whole 'nother topic LOL.

Anyway... back to my TV theory.

Kids are brats today. Plain and simple. They are manipulative, self-righteous, and arrogant. Obviously, not ALL kids, but I'm making a generalization based on observation in my community. There are countless reasons and failings of society that have molded children in this way, but the biggest influence is parents. We live in a society where parents complain to the school Principal if their kid makes a bad grade or pays the kid's way out of trouble. We reward our children with expensive toys instead of our love. I know one kid who got a GOLF CART for his birthday so he wouldn't have to walk 2 blocks to his friends house- now he can *ride*. And he's overweight, go figure.

I think one particularly naughty new parental habit is making the entire world revolve around children. It has it's perks, naturally, but it's hindrances as well. TV is one of those hindrances. Back to my original statement- "When I was a kid, there were cartoons on Saturday morning, and that's IT." Now, we have 4 or 5 channels (maybe more?) devoted 24/7 to kids. My children can turn on the TV at any time day or night and find a cartoon. This may be a minor player in "the world revolves around me" game, but it's a player nonetheless.

And there you have it.

"Just in Time for Spring"

You have got to be kidding me.

Just in time for Spring... now that you feel all renewed and refreshed... get yourself in DEBT!

The barrage of credit card offers I get daily amazes me. I keep meaning to opt out of pre-screened offers with the credit bureaus, but I'm lazy and never think about it at the right time.

I read somewhere once that whenever you get junk mail with postage paid envelopes inside to stuff that thing as full as possible and send it out. If everyone started doing this, the junk-mail senders would not be happy with all that postage they were paying and according to theory, stop sending so much. Personally, I don't think it would stop them. I think they would get some sort of statement printed on the envelopes that they could only be used for the intended purpose. Maybe something like that already exists? I dunno, but if it doesn't, I'm sure the credit card bigwigs could get it legalized.

"What's wrong with society" rant over.

I've been a busy little bee planting my herbs for the summer. I now have chives, spearment, catnip, camomile, hyssop, and lavender in dirt. I have passionflower seeds soaking per package instructions and stevia seeds waiting on warmer soil, again per package instructions.

I made my first ever natural bug repellent for summer use, but the bugs aren't too bad yet. I've been hanging clothes on the line religiously. The baby boy has been ill, so I fell behind on laundry and have had to use the dryer today to catch myself back up, but I'm pretty proud of the consistency I've stuck to so far. I get up and wash one load every day. Hang it on the line and then bring it in after dinner. Every day. It keeps the laundry completely under control!

Mmm Mmmm Fresh

I just took my first load of sheets off the line for the season. I LOVE the smell of fresh-dryed-outside sheets!

Okay, so I *know* I could have been hanging clothes out before now, even during the winter, but I got lazy and fell back into easy dryer mode. But I'm out...

It's Spring, the air smells so fresh and clean, it is uplifting and reviving. I have been busy cleaning my yard and getting the herb garden ready for planting. The kids have been busy clearing the "trail" in our backyard through the "wild area" (aka... area overgrown with weeds amid trees) and making mudpies and mud milkshakes. Today I witnessed the baby boy simply basking in the sun. I saw him sitting in a sunny spot in the grass and watched for a minute. He was just sitting and taking it all in. I wondered what all he could be thinking of, what he was hearing, smelling, and feeling. It did my heart good, seeing him basking in nature like that. And best of all, I know it did HIS HEART some good as well :)

I highly recommend this book!

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

This book is wonderful. It's about children and how the lack of free play in the "wild" is affecting them. The author has coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder", and I think it's a perfect name. It is SO true and such a dose of reality. If you have kids, read it! I checked it out of my local library, and I'm only about 1/3 the way into but already so amazed and enlightened.

I've wanted to unplug our home, but this is really giving me that extra push. Spring is just around the corner, and here in the South, it is already warm and buzzing. My children have been playing outside non-stop for about a week now, and I can see a huge difference in them. The outdoors clears their minds, and mine as well. Today they collected 4 leaf clovers and told me stories about how there must be a pot of gold buried in our yard because there are so many "lucky clovers".