TV or no TV?

You know there are so many decisions to ponder when you have kids. Tv or no tv? A little tv? PG or G rated movies only? Vaccinations or no vaccinations? (Well that is one that I say you must vaccinate. But that is another topic all together.) I believe that kids should be outside playing, creating and imaging. However, I must say that is not necessarily how we live. Sometimes you just need to chill.

Just today I met a new friend at the park during our MOPS get together; Mothers of Pre-Schoolers. She and her family just moved here from Virginia, so of course being a recent transplant myself we quickly bonded. We were discussing how scary it is to move to a new place where you don't know your neighbors real well. In my case having an infant and a school age child has made this interesting when it comes to playing outside. Parker wants to ride his bike and Brady runs away like wild fire when given the chance. So the 2 of them are on completely different paths.

When we were kids our parents said "come in when the street lights go on." You never had to say where you were or who's house you were going to. Everyone was trusted. We spent the night over all of our friends houses. Now I have to be outside with my kids and we do not do spend the night parties at all. I really don't trust hardly anyone with my kids... accept the tv. I can easily monitor what they watch and for how long. But what are they missing out on when they are inside and not outside?

I really have no answers here. These are merely the thoughts that run through the minds of all parents with young children. Thinking about when they go off to college brings about a whole different list of do's and don'ts. For now, I am just going to try to
Live Life Outloud...

whatever we are doing

Parker and Brady playing Star Wars outside.