earth day & tv turn off week

::discovering grass::

:: one lonely tulip survived the deer and rabbits::

::spring::

::first time climbing this tree... so proud::

last week was rather busy so this post that was supposed to be published last week is only now getting written.  we made it through tv turn off week without turning on the tv.  we are not big tv watchers but i wanted to challenge our family to see if we could completely eliminate it for one week.  normally, the tv comes on in the morning when we are getting ready and we need the kids to be entertained so that we can keep to a timely schedule and sometimes when i have both kids and i am nursing.  maeve has to see what each and every noise is that calvin makes and that makes nursing time-consuming and with the pulling on and off it can be a bit painful.  But this week the tv did not come on the morning instead books were read and toys played with.  during nursing i told calvin he could sit quietly and read a book or  play in his room.  he chose to play in his room and he did so (mostly) quietly and with minimal interruption.  i was amazed that the times when i absolutely thought that i needed tv, i didn't.  we have continued this routine for the most part.  i am not anti-tv and believe in all things in moderation, but when i think about the bigger picture and behaviors i want to instill in my children, the more time they spend actively finding ways to entertain themselves and the less time they spend passively watching something on tv the better.

also, i wanted to post a quick link to an awesome article by my friend (and former college roommate) lisa.  she blogs over at the wellgrounded life and she just posted some wonderful tips on getting kids to eat veggies!