Late Night Wandering

It is midnight here in the B.C. and I have an early morning meeting (7:30 a.m.) followed by a board meeting at noon. I expect to be up with McKenzee at 3 so I am looking foward to a few hours sleep before and after. I should be writing 4 grants that are due on Friday and this late night time is the only alone time I get to do it but as usual I am filling my time with diversions; searching the web, posting on my blog, etc. I also am searching for something to watch on TV as I need something of worth on TV while I write. I watched all my TiVo'd shows during the dishes and the feeding of the new babe. Is TiVo'd a verb? It is sad that all reading this knew what I was speaking of....

I truly enjoy TV. I may have a problem. It isn't as bad as my Coke need, but it is bad. I struggle to let new episodes sit on my "list", unwatched. I don't TiVo everything, having the capability to only TiVo 3 shows at the same time. I know you might think that should be enough, unless of course you are one of my siblings and then you know the agony of limiting my shows to only 3 on some nights. This love of television can not be positive, after all, an entire week is dedicated to getting families off the couch in this nation. Public service announcements speak out against the evils of too much TV. Social studies associate TV watching with violence, promiscuity and all sorts of anti-social behaviors I don't feel I subscribe to. I would say I am an active person and that my children are active. I would say even more active than the average child although I would also admit that my children maintain a healthy dose of Television on a daily basis. How is this possible you may ask, it is called time management & multi-tasking. Skills that are useful in other situations I am sure but ones that I have put to good use to feed my addiction and have determined to pass on to my prosperity.

My son journals for his class every night. Carter is 8 and enjoys taking short cuts, so his sentences are rarely more than 3 or 4 words long. (I use to reward him per sentence, now I have switched to words) In his journals he had mentioned his love for TV and his mother's love for TV. Embarrased I almost made him erase it once I had read it but he had spelled the words correctly and the fraud of having him take off this admission seemed more wrong than my embarrasment. He has even listed my favorite shows, the shows we watch together and the shows I watch with him be-grudgingly. Other than sports, TV is often our family activity, often combining our love for sports and TV into actual events. From the outside that would be sad, but from my perspective a night snuggled up with my boys watching a great show is rarely topped by other activities. We share a closeness that most boys wouldn't have with their mom otherwise. I am truly blessed to have found TiVo so early in its inception, allowing me to spend quality time watching family friendly shows with my boys in front of the tube..... Maybe there should be money spent on a public service announcement telling families to slow down, crowd together and "chime in"....