| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ChicChick |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 11:10:37 AM
Hi all,
My husband and I have a nearly three month old and I'm trying to think of things we can do together as a family that don't involve watching TV. My husband is a TV afficianado and I'm very easily drawn in to watching whatever is on, thinking I'll watch for "just a minute" and realizing an hour or two later that I'm still there.
What are some relatively relaxing things we could do other than reading? You have to realize that we're pretty tired by this time of day (evening) as none of us are sleeping through the night yet, but would still like to do something fun to unwind.
Thanks in advance for your ideas! :) |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ChicChick |
Posted - Jul 03 2009 : 05:49:30 AM
Thanks so much for all the great ideas~I am more worried now about winter time, but he will be a little older then and maybe more interested in new activities.
It was so interesting to read all the comments--some things made me think of my own childhood, in which TV was very limited. I really appreciate that now, and have for years. I think TV definitely limits one's creativity.
My husband on the other hand, loves it. BUT maybe with time, when he sees how much fun the baby and I are having (grin) he'll join us instead! :) He's actually been watching a lot less sense I stopped watching.
Thanks again for the ideas--feel free to offer more if you think of them.
-Joy
Visit me online! www.achickwithaconscience.blogspot.com |
| ddmashayekhi |
Posted - Jul 02 2009 : 6:13:53 PM
My husband and I love to hike. When our 5.5 year old son was an infant, we put in the stroller and walked all over with him. I walked an hour every day with the baby when my husband was at work & again the evening with him. When the baby was asleep, we played scrabble, cards, Trivial Pursuit or backgammon. We also enjoyed reading, talking or in the end watching a show on TV.
Good luck finding something you can all enjoy.
Dawn in IL |
| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 5:03:34 PM
I just wanted to add that my 31 year old daughter, who lives in Burbank, calif, and is a school teacher, (middle school), still to this day does not own a TV, she does have a computer, and it is Satelite fed, but only because of work, and if she needs to watch a TV show, she watches it on the computer.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 3:49:11 PM
We are readers here, and love board games and big jigsaw puzzles with a zillion pieces..something that gets everyone involved. We put on gentle music and just play.
We have fire ring in the back yard (see the pic on my blog header right now) and some nights we decide to roast hot dogs just for the fun of it. We go fishing up until dark, go for walks, or drives, set up the tent and backyard camp (with milking, it is hard to be gone too far this time of year..until August we are sort of homebound) We do crafts together and teach each other things. We bake or cook fun experimental things. I think my kids will for sure remember these things more than tv shows. They do watch tv, but limited for sure. I wish I could say that about my husband..haha.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| chaddsgirl |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 12:19:47 PM
When I had my first apartment by myself, I didn't have a TV. Everyone called it my Zen Zone and it was. I'd love to throw ours in the trash, but DH is additcted. Sadly, I do a lot of things by myself because all he wants to do when he gets in from working is sit in his chair and watch it.
When I was a little kid, my family went for walks and picked up rocks, looked at different kinds of wild flowers to identify them, picked berries, made campfires outside to sit around and roast marshmallows. We went fishing and my dad taught us how to make leaf huts in the woods. In the winter time he would read to us while we worked on cross stitch projects, etc. One investment I would seriously consider, even though your little one is still very small, is the Richard Scarry The Best Word Book Ever. By the time I was 2 years old I could verbally identify Chickory, Black Eyed Susans, poinson ivy and a ton of other wild flowers and plants because of this book.
The chief source of failure and unhapiness is trading what you want the most for what you want at the moment. |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 09:57:37 AM
When we got rid of TV we had more trouble spending time in the winter than summer - seems like there was always something to do outside in the summer. In the winter we started reading a lot, playing cribbage, I spin, do needlework, etc.
Farmgirl Sister #98
Visit my online store at:
http://www.shopthefrontier.com/VFstore/index.php?manufacturers_id=79&osCsid=6be4b25bf9555031c6e2e86bbde23dba |
| City Chick |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 05:38:10 AM
When my girls were littles we would head to the park for picnics, to the river for fishing - things like that. Our budget was tight. We would go for ice cream and walk along the river in the evenings. They have free concerts in some parks around here. Even if we didn't know or like the music we'd head out. Hiking in the woods and trips to the nature centers were plentiful and still are.
I think it's important to start building your traditions when your kids are small. My girls are 11 & 8 and often ask what we did when they were little - you're looking at it kid! :o)
http://www.xanga.com/My_Pondering_Place |
| knittingmom |
Posted - Jun 30 2009 : 3:38:18 PM
Right now since baby is so small and it's nice out, going for walks, go to the park, go to the local swimming pool (nice all year round). As they get older there are board games, blocks, lego, building forts. I agree if the TV isn't turned on (or even seen, nice for those entertainment armoires) kids don't really miss it.
"There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world" |
| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 12:50:40 PM
My kids were raised without TV, we all live in a very rural area, there was no TV antenna reception, no cable and sat-tv was just becomeing popular in the last 10 years or so. No video games, cell phones were allowed. We played board and card games, talked about our days and our family's history, made-up stories and wrote in our journels, kids were in 4-H and FFA, and of course since we are on a working farm/ranch, there are never ending chores, LOL. My kids were never bored, and did'nt miss what they never had, and they are raising their own, pretty much the same way. My youngest is 28 and then up to 35, I have 3 grandkids and they are happy playing in the dirt, helping gather eggs, bottle feeding lambs and kids. My point being, if you don't turn on the TV to begin with, and start other projects, you will realize, that you don't really miss it. Even my computer is dial-up, it does'nt need to be more, and its also an added expense. There is nothing more relaxing in the eve, than to sit down and read a child a story, even if they are only a few months old.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 11:36:28 AM
Hi Joy! You and I are nearly in the same boat! We have a 4 month old (just turned on Friday) and it can be really easy to sit down (and stay down), especially when I work all day.
So, we go on walks in the woods together (she's in the sling), with our dogs, and we work in the garden with her in a sling, or sit on the porch in the porchswing and rock with our little one. We listen to A LOT of music and usually, while I'm cooking dinner, we listen to music or NPR, have a glass of wine and he'll hold the baby and stand in the kitchen while I cook. I always love that. I always enjoy going for a little walk with Violet and my husband up the street with the stroller. We talk, we walk, we enjoy the sunshine.
We usually don't watch tv until she's gone to sleep.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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