Back In Action

Not gonna lie, we've been in a bit of a rut lately. First it was getting used to having a newborn in the house again and meeting the needs of both our kids, then it was a nasty chest cold that has seriously put us out of commission this past week and a half.  To add further stress, Nolan decided that he HATES being strapped in his car seat and so any attempts to get out of the house or go for walks with the stroller were torture and mostly avoided.  To help us get through some of the chaos we started putting Maya in front of the TV a little more than usual. With netflix at our side we had a gazillion kids shows right at our finger tips. It was just so easy. It kept her quiet and in one spot long enough for us to get something done, or just to get some silence after her constantly calling my name and pulling at my leg all day.

The thing is though, we kinda created a monster. You see, Maya started to get addicted to TV. Like bonafide addicted. Her drugs of choice were "In the night garden", "Sesame Street", and  "Barney". It got to the point where she started to refuse dinner because she was too busy asking for "Iggle Piggle" and the "Pinky Ponk" over and over and over again. When we decided to cut her off cold turkey she was crazed to the point where we had to hide any reminders of her favourite shows (like the remote control and DVD cases) and were careful not to say certain words that would trigger a huge fit to watch it.  Seriously, it's kind of funny, but not really. Who would have ever thought an 18 month old could become so preoccupied with such a thing? At first we thought we were just using the TV as a tool to get us through this crazy patch and reassured ourselves that "it's not always going to be like this". In the end we started a really bad pattern over only a few weeks that I am sure could last a lifetime if we didn't recognize it and change it. One day I looked over at her sitting in front of the tube like a zombie and thinking "wow she is literally sitting on her ass doing nothing, not even moving or blinking".  What a way to start such a sedentary lifestyle for our little girl.  And so tonight after dinner we cleaned up the trail of snotty kleenex, made ourselves look half presentable, and put our shoes and sweaters on. We headed out into the back yard and had a full hour of fun, just running around and getting fresh air. 

It was great to get out and have a life again, to spend some time together as a family, not worrying about getting a kid fed or picking up toys. Even Gunther was pleased as he has seriously entered into a depression after Nolan's birth from all the neglect he's been experiencing.  I think we are slowly getting back into our groove and out of survival mode. It's about time 'cause these past seven weeks have been kind of a blur. I'm glad we are back to creating memories again. 

And for Maya, we are now implementing a time limit on her TV watching and scheduling physical activity as a family every day. Sure, she goes to swimming lessons and we have her in day care twice a week, but that isn't going to be enough. I never thought I would have to worry about these things at such an early age but here we are.  Anyone know of any great toddler activities we could try at home?