Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, May 2, 2009 9:06 pm

Thanks so much Kate for sending me the story of your Turnoff Week! Here are Kate’s words about how her week went:

As a non-blogger, I usually enjoy your blog as a “silent” listener. But I did want to share our experiences of Turnoff Week.

I wasn’t expecting Turnoff Week to be much of a challenge — after all, the kids only get to watch DVDs once a week, on Movie Night, and perhaps a ten minute internet session once or twice a week in addition if I have to make an urgent phone call. As a result they almost never ask for screen time and so there’s no drama about not having it.

But Turnoff Week coincided with a nasty infection picked up from preschool which saw Mom, Dad, Nana visiting from England, kid 1 and kid 2 all visiting the doctor, and six courses of antibiotics between the five of us. So with Mom and Nana feverish in bed, kids feverish but not sick enough to want to lie down, what’s to do… but turn on the TV!

So our kids spend Turnoff Week watching at least an hour or two of DVDs every day, including one memorable day with everyone snuggled up in bed together for three hours watching ‘They Might be Giants’ ‘Here Come the ABCs’ on the laptop.

So I think we get an ‘F’. But it reminded me what I like and hate about TV. Positives: useful when sick or anxious kids need a totally passive activity, or sick parents need to keep them entertained without effort; and there’s some good stuff to take from it - 4 yr old has picked up on many of the TMBG’s tunes and is improvising on them, jazz-style; 2 yr old has suddenly started to identify letters on signs around the neighborhood. Negatives: well, we all know the negatives.

Everyone was better by Sunday so now dealing with the inevitable increased requests for screen time, some of which we give in to, most of which we distract from. A couple more days and we’ll be back to normal.

Better luck next year! Thanks for such an inspiring blog - though we are silent watchers, we enjoy it very much and often make use of your ideas.

Kate

Thank you so much for giving it a go and I am glad to hear that everyone is feeling better now. TV is truly a useful tool with sick children (especially when Mom is sick too). I really like your positive points. I always hope to emphasize here that TV has its benefits when used in moderation, and you mention some very important ones!

I am glad you joined in and decided to send me your report. We all appreciate it!

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Did you give Turnoff Week a try and have no blog with which to share your experiences? If you want, feel free to send me an email about how it went for you and your family. I’ll publish your words here and enter you in my drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate. Read more about it here.

Comments (12)

By Mom Unplugged, April 27, 2009 8:16 pm

It’s over!

For those of you who decided to join us for the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge, it’s time to “fess up” and tell us how it went!

~~OUR REPORT CARD~~

ME: For me the big challenge is always to get away from the computer. I didn’t do so well. I have just set up a non-profit Ebay account benefiting my children’s Montessori School and unfortunately listing items for auction takes a long time. I give myself an F.

MY OLDEST TWO KIDS: My children didn’t even know it was Turnoff Week. They played, read books, worked on art projects etc. Neither of my older two children ever asked for a video or a computer game, so I didn’t have to turn them down. They get an A+.

MY YOUNGEST CHILD: My 3 year-old daughter asked for nothing all week until Saturday. I let her watch one video on Saturday. On Sunday she wanted another. Before I could say anything, my 8 year-old girl said “I’ll take care of this Mom” and unplugged the TV (she obviously remembered the plot of Fix-It by David McPhail). She then said to her younger sister: “The TV isn’t working, see?” After my youngest had checked the TV and then confirmed with Mom and Dad that neither Mom nor Dad knew how to fix TVs, she went happily off into her kitchen to play.

It was deception, but it worked. She hasn’t asked for a video since!

She gets a B+ and I get another F for engaging in sneakiness - but it worked without a tantrum, so maybe I’ll raise my score on this one to a C.

ENCOURAGING NOTE: One thing I have observed with my children which might be encouraging to other parents, is that once they get over the first hump of reading fluency, they seem to have much less interest in videos and spend a great deal of their non-play time reading.

This was certainly true with my 8 year-old daughter when she became comfortable with independent reading, but she was never a huge video watcher to begin with.

It was far more remarkable with my 6 year-old son. He was always the one who would have been Mr. TV had I allowed it. In the past few months he has suddenly taken off with his reading and is rarely found without a chapter book in his hand. He honestly seems to have forgotten that the TV ever existed. My husband and I are absolutely astonished!

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That was how it went for me, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So how did you do?

Remember, for everyone who signed up for the challenge beforehand, you will be entered in a random drawing for a $10 Amazon gift certificate if you write a final blog post about how your week went, and link to that blog post here. Please link before Wednesday, May 6th. May 6th is the day that I will draw a winner from among those who have completed the challenge by linking to their final post here.

For readers who have no blog but participated in Turnoff Week, please email me a summary of how it went for you and I will publish it here (without your full name or email address of course). I will then include you in the drawing too! Please be sure to send it before next Monday, May 4th so I have time to post it before the drawing on Wednesday. For more information about non-bloggers (including my email), please read here.

The more feedback we have from people, the more we can all learn. I would like to send a HUGE thank you to all who gave this a try! I look forward to learning from you!

Comments (4)

By Mom Unplugged, April 25, 2009 8:07 am

I have had a few emails and comments from non-bloggers who are interested in joining the 3rd annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge. Instead of replying individually, I’ll post instructions here. I’d love to have you join in too (and you’ll be included in the drawing for the $10 Amazon Gift Certificate)!

1) After April 26th (the last day of Turnoff Week), send me an email with a description of how your Turnoff Week went: what were your goals beforehand, what was easy, what was harder, was there anything surprising…that kind of thing. Just tell us how it went. Remember, be honest, if it wasn’t perfect that’s totally OK and normal. We want to learn from your experiences!

2) I’ll publish your content (not your full name or email address of course) here on Unplug Your Kids.

3) You’ll be entered in the drawing, but be sure to email me before Monday May 4th since the drawing will be Wednesday May 6th.

My email is this blog’s name “AT” gmail dot youknowwhat. (Sorry for the odd way of putting it, but there a bad bots out there on the lookout for email addresses).

Comments (23)

By Mom Unplugged, April 18, 2009 8:50 pm

April 20th through the 26th is Turnoff Week (formerly TV Turnoff Week, but now it applies to all “screens”). As I mentioned previously, I will once again be hosting a Blog Challenge for those who dare to give the no screen (or reduced screen) thing a try for a week. A few intrepid souls have already expressed an interest in giving it a try. Thank you!

I am very late in posting the instructions. Usually I start a few weeks ahead of time! However this year, I have been really busy with other, “real life” obligations.

Finally though - for those who have already indicated that they want to give it a go, and anyone else who wants to attempt it, here is how the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge will work:

Phase 1 -

1) Write a post about the challenge that sets forth your goals, reasons for joining in, etc. The more people we can reach and get to join in, the more fun and educational it will be! Remember, it is not just about giving up TV, what about the “other screens” in your life? The computer is my personal downfall so I will be concentrating on reducing that.

2) Link to your post in Mr. Linky below (leave a comment too in case Mr. Linky goes haywire, as occasionally happens, and I have to take him off).

3) Steal the Blog Challenge badge and put it in your sidebar, linking to Unplug Your Kids. Let me know if you need help with this step.

Two sizes:

Phase 2 -

Do your best to meet your goals from April 20-26. If you aren’t successful, it’s OK. What is important is to try, and to learn something from the experience.

Phase 3 -

1) After Turnoff Week ends (April 26th is the last day), write a post about how it went: the good, the bad, and the ugly! Sharing experiences helps everyone.

2) I will also write a “How it Went” post and I will put up a new Mr. Linky. Put the link to your “How it Went” post in the new Mr. Linky (plus comment just in case).

3) On Wednesday, May 6th I will draw a random name from among those who completed the challenge by putting up their final post (remember, whether you met your goals or not, completion just means blogging about it!). If you don’t put up your final post and enter it in the Linky before that date, then I can’t enter you in the contest. A random person will win a $10 Amazon gift certificate.

Finally, I have to apologize to a few of you who asked me questions that I have not answered yet. I have just been SO busy this past week, that I haven’t had a chance to think about the blog, or email, or anything much. I do appreciate your questions, and I will try and send you an email tomorrow (Sunday).

Here is the first Mr. Linky. Anyone who wants to enter the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge should write a post about their intentions and link to it here. Even if you indicated in the comments to my last post about this that you wanted to join, please be sure to link to your goal-setting post here, to make it “official!”

Comments (11)

By Mom Unplugged, April 10, 2009 8:44 pm

I am finally posting about the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week blog challenge.

This year’s National Turnoff Week begins April 20th and runs through April 26th. I plan on hosting another Turnoff Week Blog Challenge for those who want to take the plunge and give the TV-free life a try!

Can you turn off your TV for one week? Can you turn off your computer for one week? Can you at least reduce your family and personal screen time for one week?

These are things to think about. The idea is not to feel guilt about doing it or not, “succeeding” or not, but simply to gain awareness of the amount of time that we all spend in front of screens these days.

Even without TV, I have my own “screen-issue.” The computer is my downfall. I will try to reduce my computer time that week.

Think about it. Discuss it with your family. Perhaps this would be a good time to try reducing your screen time if you have been considering it.

I’ll post more later about how to join in the Blog Challenge (as always, there will be a small bribe prize for a random participant!!), but I just wanted to plant the seed in your thoughts today.

So, is anyone interested in giving it a try?