Day 4 of No T.V.--Boredom Rocks

Day 4, Boredom Rocks!

Kids pretending that one of them is blind and the other is leading. 

I'm noticing some simple but awesome changes that are happening! No longer am I finding dvds spread out all over the shelf with the t.v. There's still cases, but they changed to Just Dance Kids and Just Dance 3, plus the Wii Fit remote thingies are laying everywhere now. No one has cried out "Where's the stupid Apple remote??? It's way too little. Who had it last? Rrr." in a few days now. The dining room table is littered with card games, crayons and pages haphazardly scattered about. More books are found next to my favorite chair than drink cups. Just small changes.

Abby has been talking to me a lot lately. Nothing profound...just sits on the corner of my recliner and chats for a few minutes about the characters in her book. Was she trying to do this before? I'm scared to wonder. But it's really nice. There's a connection there. She's read two full teenybopper novels in two days!! That's like, 300 pages! Boredom can sure be productive.

I'm keeping busy a lot more and messes seem to bother me less. I think this might be an awareness of the fact that I am busy instead of wanting the appearance of busy-ness--maybe. You see, I felt like a tidy house testified that I was busy or doing a good job. The last few days, though I have been busy...and it's a total mess. But, I feel less guilty about it--amazing.

We've been playing this word game called Quiddler, a card game where you get points for making up more and more words out of the letters you're dealt. Games like this didn't interest us before.

Abram, for the first time ever, is bringing me non-school assigned books and attempting to read them to me. Gasp!! And he's doing great. He's up beyond the level I have him at.

Lego's are becoming their most treasured toys--everyone's, really. Big Lego's, little Lego's...every Lego they own...out...everywhere.

So...what to do what to do, is our main question, and we're successfully finding things. I have become a big fan of my new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I thought I would read all my magazines that I've shelved the past year, but instead I'm really reading cookbooks. The magazine still sits beside me pretty much unread. Hmm.

Oh, and I didn't just read that cookbook--I cooked! Oh my. I helped Abby make a fruit salad so we wouldn't waste the fruit this time. I made tuna salad out of Betty Crocker's cookbook instead of the one I'd memorized, just to try something new. And then, I toasted the bread, cut up a tomato, peppered the top, and washed some grapes to garnish the lunch plate--all for lunch! Like seriously...boredom ROCKS!! I also cut my finger while using a cheese grater (the large side) to scallop potatoes. It hurt! First injury from no t.v. Those cheesy Scalloped Potatoes were oh so yummy!!

We went to a friend's house yesterday and visited--snacks galore! The football game was on, but we didn't pay much attention. Although, the commercials kept grabbing my attention--all the movies that were going to come out soon--grr. Why couldn't I keep my eyes away? I could care less about the football game (Josh either--not a fan), but the commercials were too engaging to ignore. I left the room and sat around visiting with the ladies. Most of the men, including Josh visited around the barbecue or in the kitchen, the kids all played upstairs. Abby got her hair done. Abram got chased by a cute girl--pretended not to like it. Bubzy was amazed by the big 'ol dog in the hallway kennel. It was nice.

Observations from Day 4:

• Boredom produces creativity!
• Cooking becomes a creative endeavour rather than a quick trip to the kitchen for a hunger-quencher.
• Lego's become the children's favorite activity.
• I find out I like to read The Pioneer Woman's cookbook more than my Real Simple magazines that I thought I just didn't have time for.
• The kids like to read more than they thought they did.
• A busy house equals a messy house, not the other way around.
• A child staring at the ceiling is just fine--they will eventually get up and find something to do.
• Most toys still go untouched, but some are all over the house.

Linked to Overflowing With Creativity