Well, we found out that giving up the TV wasn’t hard at all. The idea of giving it up was much harder than the application. It’s been two weeks now and although we knew it before we really get now how much the kids just love being with you and doing whatever you will do with them. Some new time fillers have included, playing games, reading, looking at maps, planting a garden and flowers, playing catch & Frisbee, arts and crafts, watching the kids play outside and even doing household chores together, which believe it or not ended up being a bit hit! Mom and dad have recently been inspired to come up with some other themes and topics that can involve learning and playing together with the kids and we’re excited about that. More on that later, but today I’ll share how sore I am.

Saturday we picked up bikes for mom and dad. We’ve talked about it for a while now but somehow never got around to getting it done. So Friday we headed to the bike shop to pick some out and Saturday morning we picked them up.

What’s crazy is that it doesn’t feel like I was on the bike for very long the first day. It was just fun to ride around the neighborhood with the kids. When we came in late morning to cool off a little, Taylor sat by his dad on the stairs and said, “I love riding my bike with my parents.” It felt good to know we’d just created a great memory for him.

I’m more aware of good memories after my daughter’s parent teacher conference on Friday. Her teacher told me how happy she is and how much she loves her life and her family. She said, “She already has so many wonderful memories and experiences and she’s only 9.” (Of course, if Cid had been there she’d readily corrected her that she’s ten now and that’s a double digit number so technically she’s mostly a teen already. *snicker*) It warmed my heart to hear her teacher tell me how much of me she sees reflected in her, how she knows the difference between right and wrong and she tries hard to make the right choices every day. I walked away feeling great and hearing the words of her loving her life and family and having so many wonderful memories etched in my heart.

We went out to ride again when Cidnie got home from a birthday party and quickly found most of the neighborhood kids in tow with us. Again, it didn’t feel like we were out that long and it was just fun to be riding with the kids. But apparently it was longer than I thought because the next day we went for a late afternoon stroll with the kids and EVERYTHING talked to me…my backside let me know right where the seat had been, my legs informed me of how much I’d used them the previous day and my lower back just plain complained! But the smile on the faces of my kids was worth every bit of it. I’m sure that I’ll look back and find other benefits from it as well.

It really is amazing what better things you can do with your time when you make the decision to just do it. Are we missing TV? Not one bit. Bring on the sore muscles, smiling faces and fantastic family memories.

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