Unplugged

Admittedly we all spend too much time plugged in. The kids both have iPods and DSs. They play on the computer and the Wii. And we feed the monster. Both kids received several Wii games for Christmas (I refuse to buy and more DS games since it takes them about a week to lose a $40 game). The weather this week has been extremely cold as we missed 2 days of school so there was quite a bit of extra electronics time around the house. At one point recently, when told it was time to unplug, I was informed that there was nothing to do in the house and that E was going to "bored herself to death." Amazingly she survived the next 2 hours.

So on Saturday the kids had a friend over.They headed straight for the Wii and plugged in, playing some Disney Infinity and mini Golf. And then I took the TV over.I wanted to watch a little figure skating combined with football (that's the way I roll).So the kids took to the toys.

Then next several hours encompassed some of the best imaginative play I've seen in a long, long time. An old toddler castle toy was broken out with all it's knights and dragons along with an army of Star Wars figures and Lego men.When they tired of that game the kids created a make-your-own angry birds style launching game. Little Dixie cups were turned into walls and towers and super balls were catapulted at them.

The fun of the evening continued to amaze me.  A huge indoor blanket tent was erected in the living room.The boys broke out the chess board.They dug out Battleship -- just plain old Battleship when electronic Battleship was sitting on the top of the pile.

 

What a blessing it was to watch them all play together. To explore their imaginations. To make their own little worlds. To pull out games that required some thinking. To abandon the electronics and just enjoy each other. To build. To simply play.

I'm not saying that we're going to become one of those unplugged families. We enjoy our video games, our apps, our music. But some days it's great to leave it all behind and break out those creative juices. Let's see what happens the next time. Thanks for coming to play C!