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This is what we did before the internet part 2

Tags: wife kid daughter

This is what we did before the internet part 2

This is what we did before the internet part 2
Note: These kids that I talk about in the blog are not real. They are characters, in a story, and no relation to any of my children .. living or dead. Well, there was Hugo, but we don't talk about that Kid anymore. Just kidding. We talk about him all of the time.

Another week passes by in the Stockton's house, and it is Saturday morning. Time to start the "screenless weekend" or as my kids call it, "Practice for being on a desert island weekend." As the sun goes down outside, on the inside I line up my kids in the kitchen. Each of them looking at me with a level of the dis-stain not seen since I told them to do their chores! I pull out a bag from the kitchen pantry. One by one all of our cell phones and electronic items needed into the bag. 

My Wife walks into the room and says, "This is a bad idea. I'm just telling you."

She drops her cell phone in the bag as well and walks out of the room.

I say, "Now I made a whole bunch activities a week can go on a do this weekend but do not require looking at a screen."

I pass out the paper to my kids, and they are not happy to read them. 

My Daughter looks at me and says, "No wonder why they had sex and drank all of the time back when you were a kid. If you could only watch three TV stations and didn't have the Intenet, I would be doing that too!"

"That's not the kind of response I was expecting.", I reply

 My son looks up from the paper and raises his hand.

"Son," I reply, "You don't the do raise your hand."

My son says, "I'm really not down for the berry picking."

I reply, "If we want your mom to make a blueberry pie, that we need the extra going to pick the blueberries.

My wife pops into the kitchen and says, "Blueberry pie?"

I roll my eyes, "Seriously. What else we are going to do this weekend without TV?"

My wife smiles, "Maybe you can make me a blueberry pie."

I say, "Really?"

My wife replies, "Well, you don't have a TV this weekend, and I like blueberry pie. Thanks!"

My wife walks out of the room.

"Ok., " I say, "Time for the first activity. That does not involve pie!"

I get the kids and the wife in the car.

My wife asks, "Where are we going?"

I reply, "We're going outside to play some basketball."

My daughter looks out the window and says, "This is not going to end well."

Our year 2000, Desert Tan, Toyota Sienna left the driveway and went to a basketball court at a local elementary school. As the kids and wife left the car, I went to the trunk and pulled out a basketball, hen pressing the key FOB to lock the doors. Slowly, the family approached the basketball court, they just stood in the center, with their arms crossed, heads held low, and waited for me to arrive.

I took a basketball, dribble it a couple times on the asphalt, and look of my family.

I say, "Back before they had computer screens we actually had to go outside and play with other kids in the neighborhood."

My daughter looks around and says, "I don't like where this is going can I go home now?"

I reply, "Just give it a try. I know we are all in this together."

My son chimes in, "I agree with sister. Let's just go home."

I pass the ball to my wife, and she takes a shot. Right in the basket.

My wife says, "Let's do two on two. I'll take my daughter you got the boy."

My daughter picks up the ball from the ground and walks it back to center court.

Let me say something about my son. My son is a computer kid, I don't want to say he's a nerd, but he doesn't always go outside and exercise. Which is fine. The whole point of this exercise is to keep hem away from computing screens for a few days.

So, my wife and I walk to center court, and my Daughter throws up the ball. My wife catches it. My daughter falls back close to the hoop. My wife throws the ball to my daughter, who shoots and scores!

"Son!", I yell out, "Why weren't you --"

I see my son on the ground holding his nose. I run over to my son and ask what happened, but I can kind of piece the scenes together to get the story. My son stood underneath the basket, not expecting the ball to go for moe towards the hoop, but the basket was made and went straight into my son's face, thus making his nose bleed. So, I run to the car and grab the "First-Aid" kit. After a few minutes, I taped up my son's nose and put some cotton balls up each nostril to keep the blood from coming out.

My son says, "Dad I look stupid!"

I reply, "Is their blood coming out of your nose?"

My son shakes his head from left to right.

I reply, "Then, you're welcome!"

My wife says, "Maybe it is better to go home before any of his friends come over here to play."

I agree, and we all go back to the minivan and drive home.

We get back to the driveway and pile back into the house.

Once we get into the house, I go to the main closet (closest to the front door) and pull out a board game. I put the game on the table, Trivial Pursuit. After getting the board the pie pieces and the card set up, we roll the dice to see who was going to go first. I throw a one. My wife throws a three. My son throws a six and my daughter rolls a five. My son goes first. He takes his eyes in his hand and heroes it 3 then he ops 3 spaces and then pulls out cards the box and hands it to his sister.

She asks the following question, "When you are driving a car, what does the yellow light mean?

My son says, "Slow down. "

My daughter asked the question again, "What do you do when you see a yellow light?"

My son again answers, "Slow down!"

My daughter yells, "WHAT DO YOU DO AT A YELLOW --"

I jump in, "Ok. I see what's going on here. Ha, Ha. The answer is slow down.

My son replies, "No, I really wanted her to slow down. She was reading the question too fast! Thanks, Dad!"

I reply, "What?"

My daughter looks at me and says, "How could you do that to your own son? What kind of Dad are you?"

Everyone puts their cards on the table and head up to their rooms.

My wife shakes her head and says, "Really. How could you?"

I start getting upset, "But the answer IS slow down! I thought they were going to start arguing!"

My wife replies, "Well instead of that .. all of us are angry with you. What's next?"

I say, "This no screens weekend is much harder than I thought."

My wife says, "I can see the direction that you're going in. You want our kids to reduce their "free time" on these devices. It's different when they need to do research for school. But, during their free time, you want them to build up their social skills instead of putting all that time on social media.

Then I had an idea! The one place that they would have no screens would be at ... the library.

I get everyone to meet me in the kitchen, and I say, "Everyone gathers your homework together because we're going to the library."
What about if we don' have any homework

I reply, "Then, you're at the library, grab a book, sit down and read it!

Everyone grabs their school work, runs out the door (and I lock it) into the minivan, then we drive to the library.

When I walked into the library, people are waiting in line to check out books, others are in the kid's section being read to, and others are ... on screens! They access the library network through a computer.

I ask the librarian, "Where is your card catalog?"

She looks at me and says, "What is this? Is your Delorean time machine outside with Doc Brown. We got rid of the card catalog at least twenty years ago. We just use our local search engine."

Indeed, having computers is not the only thing that has changed in the library. They have DVD series, TV show seasons, computers on every desk, and the ability to rent a computer of you don't have one. But, at least with the kids, they went over to different tables and actually started working on their homework. Other parents have also dropped off their kids, so they are sitting together and studying (but no food or drink, this is a library, not a coffee house!).

Looking around at all of the screens, I knew that the weekend was over. I kept on thinking that being on all of the screens kept my kids from things, but now seeing them all hanging out with their friends studying makes me feel that maybe ... one day ... sometime in the future ... they will be socially adjusted ... and might even date.

Thank you for reading this episode of the blog! If you have any questions, please let me know.


This post first appeared on Nick Stockton: Be The, please read the originial post: here

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This is what we did before the internet part 2

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