Week 2 of the Great TV Purge and the Results Are Telling

We have entered week 2 of the Great TV Purge and the results are definitely favorable.  I no longer have to listen to whining about wanting to watch TV.  All I have to say is, "We don't watch TV" and the asker is satisfied with my answer.  The gazillion requests for additions to the Christmas lists have tapered off--with the exception of Sunday when the Big Toy Book from Toys R Us arrived with the newspaper.  I wasn't thinking clearly or I would have thrown it in the recycle bin before little eyes found it.

The children no longer complain about doing their extra homework.  This is work I give them on top of what their school has them do.  In my circles, this is referred to as "afterschooling."  When I tell the kids to go do their reading, they go and read.  When I tell Dave to go do his math lesson, he goes and does his math lesson.  No complaints.  A big change from before the TV Purge.  Yesterday Lizzy spent almost an hour after school practicing for her supposed math test today (I'm still not clear if she actually had a test in math--she's only in first grade.  Do they have actual math tests?).  She drew shapes, she wrote out the names of colors, she drew intricate patterns (face, flower, butterfly, sun, repeat), she wrote number lines and other things.  Four double-sided notebook pages worth of math test practice which she put in her homework folder to take to school today to show her teacher.

Last night at dinner, Dad started talking geography.  It started with talking about tornadoes and hurricanes and ended up with Dad pulling out the globe, explaining jet streams and weather patterns, and ended with an hour of Dad sitting on the couch discussing geography, tectonic plates, fault lines, volcanoes, and who knows what else.  I was on bath duty for the girls and missed most of the discussion.

There have been other changes which I will share at another time, but I will leave you with this one.  We had a bit of an Indian Summer day today.  After school I took the kids on a walk.  Lizzy asked if we could make it a leaf walk where they collect leaves.  I said sure.  She must have collected 100 leaves in her bag.  On the way home the idea came to me to also collect some sticks and make a fall wreath.  The kids gathered up their sticks, I grabbed the glue gun, and we created a very nice wreath.

After dinner Lizzy asked if I would teach her how to sew.  Her friend sewed her a little doll pillow this summer and Lizzy wanted to learn how to make her own.  I had her select some material, taught her how to thread a needle, got her started and she sat and sewed up two sides of the pillow before it was time for bed.  She was incredibly proud of her accomplishment and can't wait until tomorrow when she can finish it up and have a new pillow for her princess dolls.

And just a note to the curious-I did go to Goodwill this week, except Gary wasn't collecting the drop-offs.  Yesterday it was Teri, who I also see on a regular basis.