Shocked

Have you just been begging for a reason to boycott Dora the Explorer, to rid your home of all things Spongey, or to reduce the time your kids spend online or watching TV? Well here is a really good reason and one you can explain to your kids. I am hereby boycotting Nickelodeon.

Click here to see why.

It isn't often I boycott things or get too riled up about issues, but this one has me steamed and willing to boycott to the hilt. I checked it out by going to nickjr.com and sure enough, down at the bottom, listed under "nickelodeon kids and family websites" you will find 5 links to addictinggames.com which is host to some very very disturbing games gear towards kids. For Nickelodeon to do this just boggles my mind. I know lots of parents who consider NickJr to be a safe site for their kids to play online. But if your kid gets curious and starts clicking on things, or hears about this cool site from a friend and goes to check it out, your child might end up playing a game where they get to imagine their teacher naked or mutilate their classmates. Not so sweet, not so educational, not so NickJr, is it?

I sent a personalized letter to Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President, Digital, Nickelodeon kids and family group. Tomorrow I'm going to tell my kids what I told Mr. Youngwood: that until they stop supporting such a heinous site and issue a grand scale apology to all the families and children who's trust they have betrayed, that we will not be renewing our cable once we move, that from this day on my children will not be allowed to watch Nickelodeon, that all Nickelodeon sites will be blocked on our computers, and that not a single cent of ours will be spent on any Nickelodeon licensed merchandise.

I won't ask you to do the same, I just wanted to let you know this was out there because I was glad someone let me know.

Yet Another Internet Addiction

This is a sketch I drew of Alfred Hitchcock when I was 16. I have had a love for all things Alfred Hitchcock ever since my mom first introduced me to one of his movies. In fact, this sketch if from a photo of him on the back cover of a book of mystery thrillers that I was reading the summer my dad was dying from cancer. I wrote the only real diary entry about my father's illness on the inside of that book's dust jacket.

But this isn't about my father. This is about Alfred. Alfred and my new internet addiction. Remember when I swore off internet TV? I was good. I kept away from it for 4 months. But then my sister had to go and tell me that the entire 4th season of LOST was online. My desire to stick to my promise had to do battle with my desire to save money, and watching LOST online was a heckuva lot cheaper (and convenient) than renting it. So, I caved and watched LOST. But then I finished it and forgot to say my prayer right after (you remember the one asking Heavenly Father to break my computer if I watched internet TV?). But I refused to watch something stupid, and stupid seemed to be the only thing available. UNTIL.... until I was browsing NBC and noticed the Alfred Hitchcock Hour on their list of full episode offerings. In my defense, I don't really consider this as watching TV. No, it is more like renewing an age old love affair. Shhhhh, no one tell Mr. Hotness, please. These fun little episodes are just as enjoyable as a packed, frozen, ice cream cone. I just love Alfred's dry, deadpan humor and the way he pokes fun at the show's sponsers. So, here I am, on my pregnant butt, eating frozen novelty ice cream bars, loving Mr. Hotness for keeping me well stocked, and loving my man Alfred for helping me get through these last few weeks of preggo-ness. Thank you, Alfred, darling. And you too, Mr Hotness!

Can you find the episode that has a very young Robert Redford in it?

Face Forward

(30 minute self portrait. No, those are not worms in my hair, they are supposed to be curls. Curls are as hard to draw as they are to style.)

My sister once told me a story about a mother who spent so much time on the computer that one day her little son brought her a picture he drew of her and it only showed her back, because that was all he saw. I have been noticing a lot lately (ok, for awhile now), that whenever my kids talk to me I have to turn around. I have to turn around because I'm usually facing the computer. This is not something I like about myself. It was because of my time on the computer that my kids got stuck watching too much TV. It was because of my time on the computer that I ended up addicted to online TV watching. I have managed to cut both of those things out of my life but yet I still find myself showing only my back to my children all too often. Lent starts tomorrow and is, in my opinion, a perfect time to make yet another change around here. Starting tomorrow I will no longer let my children see me on the computer for the next 40 days. This means that all computer activities must be done before they wake up, while they nap (IF they nap), or after they have gone to bed. Wowy, this is a big one for me. Luckily I got rid of TV before this so it won't be completely cold turkey. Wish me luck, and forgive me if I don't comment as often as I'd like on your blogs.

The Beauties Of Boredom

Last night the kids were running all around the house screaming and yelling. I know this is a direct result of having the TV off, and I love it. Ok, maybe I don't love the screaming and yelling but I love why they were so loud. They weren't fighting, they were playing...together...all of them together...all day long. Other things that they have done:

Pretended that our Spongbob Squarepants screensaver is a TV show.

Smashed Rice Crispie Treats on one eye and pretended it was a pirate patch, swaggering around my kitchen saying, "Arrrrr" (yeah, this one had me laughing pretty hard)

Sweet Terror now begs for a story every night (before she would throw the book and ask me to leave her room)

Sweet Terror has been using her potty chair =) =) =)

And my favorite one is that Pablo has been writing his own little lego instruction manuals. He builds a ship and then breaks it down. He tried doing it with a really complicated one that he built and it was too hard, so I told him to start simple. Here is his 1st fully completed one:

Day 2

Day 2 without the "Nanny" (see previous post)

It is day two without the nanny. I've had moments of weakness when I wanted to give in to the pleas of my children, but I've held strong. For the record we weren't really watching T.V. and haven't for the past 3 years. It was only movies, and even then they were never a problem for us until this last year when Sweet Terror learned that movies are easy entertainment on demand. She also figured out that mommy wasn't the only one who could put one on for her which led to much screaming on her part to get Pablo to put movies in for her. Thinking my children were all downstairs playing quietly together, I would be blissfully ignorant of the fact that my children were actually watching hours on end of movies. Still it wasn't too big a deal because I have all the fun movies locked away and the kids only have access to educational or religious videos. Christmas came though, and out came the fun movies. Then, came the biggest back stabbing I've ever received, and from the man I most love and trust! DSSH knows my dislike for TV and has, for the most part, fully supported me in it. We own one Dora VHS and one Dora DVD for the sake of peace and quiet, but that is as much pre-recorded TV as I could accept. So, what does my awesome night in shining armor get for Sweet Terror??? THIS:
"Product Description: Get ready for over seven hours of non-stop educational adventures with Nick Jr. Favorites Box Set (Volumes 4-6)! This release features eighteen episodes of the best Nick Jr. episodes across all Nick Jr. properties over the past few years including episodes from Dora, Wonder Pets, Backyardigans and more!"

Is that not the most blatant form of treason you've ever seen? And who would I be if I were to deny my youngest child the use of her favorite Christmas gift in all her short 3 years of life?

That's right. And I'm already mean enough for making them eat their vegetables. So, we had those lovely 7 hours of Nick Jr playing round the clock. And if they weren't playing you can guess what was, the demonic screaming of the real devil around here. Therefore, the TV had to be shut down, completely. As a result Sweet Terror, after her morning cry over the dead TV, has been playing with her Christmas toys and actually taking naps again. Monster Man has been painting and drawing, which he normally dislikes doing. Pablo is pretty much unaffected because he never watched the TV, but he has been pestered a lot more by Sweet Terror. Cookie has been terribly bored but I think that in time her boredom will turn into productivity. And me, what has it done to me? I thought I would go crazy that first day, in fact I knew I would go crazy, so I renewed our zoo membership and took the kids out into the rain for some good ol' educational exercise. I have also been working on the boys' painting and am half done (I will share pics when I am done). I finally mailed in my return of a recalled PollyPocket playset (bought for $8 at a garage sale and will get $32 back, woohoo). And now I'm half done with totally cleaning/organizing/dejunking the holiday-stuff-and-shove-room, formerly known as my husband's office.

Oh yes and I... I will survive. Even without the TV on all day, I know I'll stay alive.

I Fired My Nanny

What would you do if you had a live-in-nanny who allowed you all the free time in the world? Would you fire her if she were too good at her job? Well I did. That's right, I had the world's best nanny and I pulled the plug on her yesterday. Why? Because my son loved her so much that he never wanted to sit and read with me. My daughter loved her so much that she refused to leave her long enough to let me potty train her. She preferred to just pee her pants, while being held in the loving, non-potty-training arms of her cooler-than-mom-will-ever-be nanny. And, frankly, I loved her so much that I was letting her do all the parenting and was beginning to forget my childrens' names. I know I did the right thing... after all I am their mother and I need to be in control around here. Even though I am proud of my decision, I can't help but miss her. Already I'm feeling the loss of all that free time. The kids have begged me to let her come back all morning. My youngest has been in tears, screaming her name. My 5 year old started crying when I told him she was gone. My oldest asked if we could have her back for just a short visit. I hugged them all and said, "I know this will be hard for you for a few days, but soon it will be easy and you will get over her. We have lots of other things to do around here and if we play together, as a family, we can have lots of fun."

I really hope I can get through this without her......

Good bye Dora Labrynth Spongebob Magic School Bus Veggie Tales, we will miss you.