It's the Newest Thing. It's Called Playing.

My evil plan for the kids to rediscover play is working. I purposely didn't pack electronics (and we see how that went over) but instead packed Go Fish and Play-Doh and Magz. Today the kids chose to stay in the room and hang out instead of going and doing and seeing. I was cool with that.

They played with Play-Doh for a good hour. It was wonderful. They made pancakes and flipped them in a skillet. They made balls and tossed around the room. They made animals and shapes and didn't even mix colors. (Not that I would have cared - it's their Play-Doh, after all.)

They found the Magz. Micah entertained himself with those forever. He cooked the metal balls in a pot. He rolled them around the floor. He bagged and unbagged them. All with the TV turned off. It made my heart happy.

The boys worked on their Quiet Time books for church without complaining, and studied some verses to say next week upon our return. Willingly and happily, even.

And even more amazing, Micah picked up a pen and wrote on paper with no prompting whatsoever. The boy who will throw himself on the floor in a fit of you can't make me do that when you even so much as think about asking him to do paperwork.

Wow.

The resounding success of the vacation is astounding. What will they do next? Clean up after themselves?

*swoon*

That just happened
. My boys. They are making me proud.

9 comments:

Karen Deborah said...

Wise mama why not do this at home too? Turning the TV off can be a very liberating experience. Cant think of a single thing I miss. Want a watch a movie? They are in the cabinet. Just an idea. Sounds like a great time had by all. I still have my recipe for homemade play doh. It's easy and the kids have a blast cooking it.

AutoSysGene said...

Holy cow, where did you go on vacation, Fantasy Island? :)

Anonymous said...

I'm with Melissa! I was going to ask if you were vacationing in the Twilight Zone! Yeah for an awesome day with the boys . . . I love how a little time away from home can 'reset' them!

the planet of janet said...

awesome.

who knew kids could entertain themselves without electronics???

KG said...

3 boys confined to a hotel room for a day? I'd start trying to lick my eyeballs ...

Michelle said...

Wowww, that's some pretty special vacation there. Think you can "vacation" at home when you get back?

And dumb question, but what are Magz?

Roger Miller said...

I'm glad Michelle asked it first, what are Magz? I have never heard of them before.

Sounds like you had a great unwinding day, and the kids realized that no TV is okay. I hate it when my kids come and say they are bored and there is nothing to do. I sometimes think that the television is actually sucking their lives away at times.

CanadianMama said...

This is very cool Karen! Growing up we lived on an acreage. We only had three channels and one of them was fuzzy. We played a lot. I'm hoping to have limited "screens" in our house so Chicken can be like your boys!!

Kimberly Wright said...

That is awesome!!!