Respect for Veterans' Day

This holiday is about to have new meaning to me... My son just joined the Army!

His journey in Basic Training has begun. And one of the best/worst things about it--no phones.

• Phones are distractions
• The recruits need to break bad habits and create new good ones
• But now, down time is "boring"--so we are writing letters! This is my favorite part. It's super slow snail mail, but I love receiving his letters. And I love writing to him too. He's never been a reader, but now he has to!
• I also send him word puzzles, stickers, photos, and anything else fun I can put into a letter (no packages allowed)
• Another drawback is not being able to communicate with him directly. But he's a big boy and doesn't need us checking up on him.

It reminds me of the TBCP (time before cell phones, haha) I had several pen pals and lots of down time without a gadget to keep me occupied. I was never bored! I think there should be a required, weekly "no phone" day. Unfortunately, we've all grown entirely too dependent on them. The experience my son is having shows him he can survive without it.

I encourage you to surprise someone with a letter--they're so personal and meaningful. When you take the time to write, others know you care!

How to TAKE AWAY SCREENS! without losing your mind

"I'm bored."

Don't you hate those words? Kids get bored way too easily. And with Spring Break in the air, we're about to hear them say it more! Especially if you're trying to be a responsible parent and LIMIT their SCREEN TIME. That is such a hard thing to do! Screens are becoming an ADDICTION. We need to remind kids there are other fun options for their down time.

A few years ago, I made a list of things for my kids to do whenever they bemoaned having nothing to do when their video game time was maxed out. I would just point to the list on the fridge. This is a sample (age adjusted, as needed):

• play a board game/card game/chess
• Nerf
• Play-Doh
• build stuff - Legos/Imaginext/Magnetix/marble slider
• race matchbox cars
• Star Wars guys
• costumes
• build a fort
• hide and seek - lots of variations: people or things, in the dark, inside/outside
• basketball, baseball, kickball, soccer, football, etc
• pool table/ping pong table
• puzzles
• make up a game (ball tag was one)
• make a video
• bake with mom 

This is a game My Mom made up for the Grandkids, the Ball Game:

Then there are the less popular items, encouraged to do to earn brownie points for sleepovers or cash:

• Read!
• science experiment
• math practice problems
• Chores and more chores! There's always chores to do!
• go through their closet, dresser, or junk drawer
• walk the dog

My "Stuff To Do" list was made for my boys, but girls can do all this and more! If I had girls, I'd keep most of it the same, depending on what they enjoyed, plus have a ton more stuff on it! These are things I liked doing as a kid (but I played with Barbies instead of Star Wars guys... my battles were like soap operas, not space operas, haha - and that's a post for another time!)

Having these things in an organized list, the kids have a menu to choose from. Instead of searching through their stuff to find something to do, they can read through the list and see what they're in the mood for. They can even help make the list and customize it and adjust it as needed.

Please help save the world, one child at a time and LIMIT SCREEN TIME! We want Creators and Leaders, not Robots (they'll take over the world soon enough, haha)!

Happy Spring!!