Ending the Electronic Addiction

Sunday I was really sick. I noticed that Zach was strangely ok the whole day without any interaction with me. Why? He was playing on the wii and ipad All Day Long. Not only were these activities not very appropriate for Sunday, he played all day! We were disappointed in him when he saw Josh wake up Kayla from a nap and didn't care or try to stop him. Why did Josh wake Kayla? Because his BABY sister is more fun to play with than his five year old brother. We decided something needed to change. Yes, Josh was in trouble for being bad, but Zach was the bigger issue. His addiction is out of control. It's like pulling teeth getting him to play outside. After five minutes he'll come in and say, "Am I done yet?" Seriously? Its like time out to him to make him play toys. We have taken the ipad and wii for the week. It's been Awesome! He's playing with toys, playing with JOSH, and finding other ways to have fun...like the pillow fight they had today. It was loud and my pillows look sad now, but I'm so happy to see him play like I did at his age. Some kids don't struggle with this addiction as much. Josh still can't sit still through most tv shows, but there are many in this generation that do. They have struggles that mine didn't. We had 13 channels growing up (mostly soap operas) and no computer. We played outside all day. We made mud stews, played drive thru, and bred  snails. (My parents loved that one,) but it was fun. We used our imaginations and learned social skills. Zach doesn't love this week, but I do. Someday he will be used to it and not miss the ipad and wii so much.