If you missed the first instalment of Week 1 of our TV -free experience, you can catch up over here - long story short: 5 kids (4 living at home - one probably chilling out at her house, watching a whole lot of TV with a martini, or whatever young adults drink nowadays...), a newborn baby, an anti-technology Mum and a few kids that have developed a slight screen addiction while I was on pregnancy bed rest. In the first week of our TV-free experiment, we travelled back to 1990, when people actually talked face-to-face and before Facebook was a thing. Our teens started socialising in person, however I realised that other people's teens live on the internet and are less enthusiastic for face-to-face interactions, so I buckled slightly, and compromised on the evening social media time, so that our teens could organise social events online! Week One summary (continued): Mama socialising: lack of TV after forming a strong emotional bond with Olivia from Law and Order SVU for the last 4 months of my pregnancy was pretty brutal. I found myself emotionally processing a lack of close female friends around me (or around me enough!) and vowed to do something about that! I talked a lot, and for longer, to Mum's at homeschool meet-ups and found that the feeling of isolation was a commonality that most of us shared, so I also vowed to do something about that. I realised that with breastfeeding, I have a LOT of spare time. I am confined to one spot, but that spot can be the beach or the park, or the library, so I chose to do a lot of breastfeeding in those spaces, which gave our little one time to play! Our weekly meet-ups were a success, and we also had an informal meet-up for a third time during the week, which our little one was super happy about Miss 5: The person who we thought would find it hardest, was one that was quicker to adapt than many of us (least of all, me!). One day of YouTube withdrawals and the internet was all but forgotten. Out came her dolls and games. Her siblings were once again interesting to her! She started spending a lot of time playing with the baby and making up imaginary games. We started reading 2 novels on the couch, snuggled up as I breastfed, and the teens were often bored enough to read a novel along with her (such a win, since Miss 5 usually hates books! go figure!). A week-day where her older sister tutors younger homeschooled students turned in to an extra play-date day, filled with anticipation and excitement, as she readied the house for her guests, and even my husband started to come around to the idea... until week 2, when it all started to fall apart!
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