Our Summer Unplugged - Day Something or Other

Let me explain why I have failed in my pledge to keep the television off for the summer. I can sum it up in one word: knee.

It's toast. Up until yesterday I feared surgery may be in my future. My kneecap is loose, shifty, and popping. My new fashion accessory is a knee brace and I sincerely hope that limping is the new strut.

The moment my boys realized that mommy can't chase them, it was over. They can sniff weakness a mile away. Thus the reason I've had to compromise a bit this week.

I feel very comfortable leaving the television off and encouraging my children to find other activities but I didn't think that was totally fair to the two babysitters we had this week. So we let them watch a movie while we were gone. And yesterday morning my boys found an old VSmile learning game in the hall closet and I let them set it up in their room. Plus fifteen minutes of Pop Eye after a VERY long playdate today (thank you Ann!).

Phew. I feel like I've confessed.

Yet despite these setbacks, we will continue unplugged to the best of our ability. I love what I'm seeing in my children so far. They haven't played this well together in a very long time. They are pulling books off the shelf and bringing them to me. Not to mention the fact that Ashley and I have been able to tackle several projects around the house that we've been putting off.

So even though we're limping along, we continue to make progress and we continue to spend as much time together as we can. I consider it success so far.