Hi there and happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week. This was the first "normal" week we have had in what feels like forever, and I have to say... it feels reeeeally good to have a routine again. You don't realize how much you crave that routine until it's gone, huh?
Devin was traveling for work all week so it was just the kids and I holding down the fort. It was a remarkably smooth and easy week thank goodness. I swear the kids can pick up on the vibes of "it's only mom this week, we can't push her too hard or else she'll lose it". They aren't wrong. 😆
Today I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites. Let's have a look at the highlights of this week:
Favorite Activities:
While Lily Grace was in school this week, Liam and I got to spend some great one-on-one time together. He is in the sweetest stage right now where he is still so young but thinks he's a lot bigger than he is. He wants to do everything the big kids do, and he thinks he's a big kid too.
He and I went to the library twice this week while LG was in school and he automatically goes straight to the section where the train books are. He is on a big Thomas the Tank Engine kick and I think we've read every Thomas book about 2 dozen times.
Then he and LG like to play trains together when she gets home from school.
Alpha
I signed up for a course offered at our church called Alpha and have been really enjoying it so far. We meet once a week to share a meal together, watch a video that explores the Christian faith a little deeper, and then discuss it in our small group. Not only have I been enjoying the course, but I really like all of the people in our small group. It's a good mix of outgoing/funny people, some more reserved/shy people, people who are parents, young single people, people who are grandparents, etc. Everyone in our group is very different from one another, yet we are all there to discuss the one big thing we have in common: our faith in Jesus. I look forward to it each week and come home feeling so energized by our conversations.
Ours takes place at a Catholic Church, but the Alpha program is actually run by various denominations and can be found all over the globe. It originated in Britain back in the 1970's and over 24 million people have taken the course. Here is the link to find one near you in the US. The international link was giving me a hard time but you could try Googling it.
It's funny, I was telling my friend Kathleen about it and she said "Oh my dad led that at our church back in high school!" Kathleen's dad is a Presbyterian minister. So apparently I am late to the Alpha club. 😊
Favorite Foods:
We made these grilled portobello burgers last night and they were delicious!!! They were topped with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers, which gave the mushrooms a great flavor boost. They also had a basil mayo spread on the top. They were actually pretty easy to make too, which is obviously a big bonus. So good!
Not-So-Favorite Thing:
Ya'll... when Liam and I were at the library this week we saw these educational tablets in the kids section. We do not have a tablet/ipad at home for the kids to use, but I have been considering buying one lately. I figured I'd check this one out from the library and see what we thought of it after a week. Like every other mom, I had such a love/hate relationship with this stupid thing. Was it educational? Yes. Was it great at keeping LG's attention when I needed to do other things? Yes. Is she learning basic technology skills that are going to be a part of her life? Yes.
But... Do I think it was addicting for her? ABSOLUTELY. It was the very first thing she asked for when she woke up each morning. It was the first thing she wanted to do when she got home from school. She wanted it after dinner. She wanted it before bed. I realized real quick that I needed to set some ground rules for this thing. We decided she could only have it for about 15-20 minutes while I was making dinner... but if I'm being honest I didn't always stick to that. Then I would feel that inevitable mom guilt for putting her on a screen instead of doing something more hands on. Needless to say I'm ready for it to go back to the library... but I know we can't avoid this forever.
This is a part of parenting that is all new territory for me!! As a teacher we obviously used them in our classrooms, but we used them sparingly. Moms whose kids are older-- I need your advice. How do you handle technology? Absolutely zero judgement on any mom for however you handle technology with your family. If I had a nickel for every "when I'm a mom I'll NEVER _______" moment I've had, only to find out the opposite was true... we'd be sitting pretty over here. So please, I'd love to know your family's rules on technology. Leave me a comment or send me an email (laurendarrell13@gmail.com). We're all navigating this craziness together, right?
The burgers look good. That's awesome your library has tablets to borrow. Our libraries still are not doing any toys or electronics. My son has the tablet way to much. Throws temper tantrums when it dies or gets taken away.
ReplyDeleteScreen time is so hard! We used the playaways from the library when my kids were little but they had Vues not the tablets. My kids got iPods or ipads in 1st grade and we have the rules now that we did then. They can only play on them from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. They can text grandparents or listen to music during the week but that’s it. They are great for getting a little alone time, but can be hard to get kids to put down. Our hard and fast rule made it a little easier. When my guys were in preschool, I did let them watch a little show before bed or when I made dinner but that was pretty much it. It was hard sometimes, but I’m glad we stuck to that. Good luck friend!
ReplyDeleteMy boys were allowed an hour each day usually around dinnertime. We were a bit more lenient than other families we knew but with homeschooling we spent only 1/2 day on school and trying to fill all those extra hours was hard. We don't really have any rules now but my older two hardly ever play video games.
ReplyDeleteI follow @ash.brandin for all evidence based screen time info, they are incredible and have helped us set boundaries & feel really great about using screen time in our home!
ReplyDeleteI am worried about the screens too and ours is only used for movies/games during road trips! never at home - at least for now!
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