TVFreeLiving.com

Our Day

Written by Cindy Wallach

Saturday, 12 July 2008

A typical day in the life of a TV-free family: Mommy, Daddy, 4-year old Boy, and family Dog.

8:30am - Boy wakes up. Tells Mommy about what he dreamed about in great, dramatic detail complete with sound effects and occasional stunts.

8:45 – Boy climbs out of bed and declares “It’s time to play. Come on mama!” Heads to toy area and gets out play silks, pirate ship, play people, animals, shells, rocks, stacking rainbow. Creates a scenario, assigns roles (“Your actor is the grandma, she is worried about the enemy pirate”), and often asks for specific music to set the scene.

9:15 – Boy whines when Mommy breaks character to make breakfast.

9:30 – Boy and Mommy eat breakfast.

9:45 – Back to imaginary play. If Mommy is lucky, Boy will engage by himself so she can check email or do some token amount of work. If his inner Spielberg is calling, Mommy is assigned yet another role. She often verbally plays along while tidying up or checking email.

10:30 – Mommy sees morning slipping away. Five minute warning for end of imaginary play is given.

10:35 – Mommy and Boy march back to bedroom/ bathroom for teeth brushing, face washing, and getting dressed. Often this routine is broken up with a spontaneous book reading because Boy passes by the book shelf on the way to the bathroom.

11:00 – Are we dressed yet? Mommy tells Boy to pick out which toys or books he wants to bring to the car for entertainment while we drive around and do our errands. This often involves Middle East peace talk levels of negotiations. No, you cannot bring your entire train set in to the car for a trip to the grocery store.

11:15 – Shoes on, Dog fed, toys quickly picked up so they are not eaten by Dog, then begin Mommy’s daily frantic search for her car keys and cell phone. Pack a quick snack and fill up water bottle.

11:30 – Out the door. It will take 15 minutes to actually get in the car because of all of the distractions. Look, mama, the ducks are hungry. Watch healthy organic snack get fed to the ducks. Look, mama, a dead bug. Place dead bug in empty snack bag. Look, mama, this stick is perfect for sword fighting. Stick is allowed in car after warning child that use of said stick for sword fighting while Mommy is driving will result in serious consequences.

11:45 – 3:00 – Grocery shopping, play date, park outing, trip to the library, museum visit, whatever the outing of the day may be. Lunch on the go.

3:00 – Return home. Outdoor time begins. Depending on the season… the pool, the woods, the beach, a walk in the nature park, go kayaking, play in dirt, stomp in puddles, play with the hose, climb trees, move rocks around, collect dead things. Outdoor time continues until Daddy gets home.

6:00 – Daddy home. Mommy mentally checks out. Boy and Daddy continue outdoor time, or head in to read books and magazines, or start in on a project together. Mommy makes dinner. Or if Mommy has to work then Daddy and boy make dinner and Mommy holes up in bedroom alone with the computer to work. Some days, mommy sends Boy and Daddy away to the book store so she can have some quiet. And some chocolate.

7:15 – Dinner is served. Family Dog waits poised under Boy for scraps.

7:22 – Boy loses interest in dinner. Boy abandons his plate and heads to toy area for spontaneous imaginary play. Mommy threatens to feed remaining dinner to Dog if boy does not return to table.

7:40 – Mommy and Daddy finish dinner. Daddy starts bath for Boy. Boy suddenly has a renewed interest in his food. Mommy cleans up dinner and/or starts working.

7:55 – Bath time. Boy and Daddy do their bath thing while Mommy pretends not to hear the volumes of water being sloshed on to the floor.

8:20 – Wet, naked boy comes running over to mommy declaring he is clean and in need of cuddling. Daddy rounds up pajamas. Mommy helps boy put on said pajamas. Some naked dancing is usually required before pajamas.

8:30 – Daddy and Boy head down to bed for reading. And more reading. And then some reading. Reading is interspersed by flashlight games and blanket cave building. Mommy waits with baited breath for the noise to slow to a stop, indicating a sleeping child.

9:30 – Quiet. Mommy sneaks into bedroom to find two sleeping bodies. Or if Daddy is still awake and Mommy doesn’t have to work, she and Daddy pop a movie into the computer. Or Daddy heads off to shower while Mommy works. And then Mommy heads off to shower.

Midnight – After emails, work, web surfing, and tidying up, Mommy carefully steps around the Dog, climbs into bed with her sweet Boy, and patient Husband, and wonders when she would actually have the time to watch TV if they owned one.

Phew.