Reasons my children should not watch TV

I am the first to admit that my kids watch a lot of TV. Andrew usually wakes up before Lauren, so he goes downstairs and watches TV until she wakes up, then we all have breakfast. Then they usually watch an hour of TV after breakfast and getting dressed while I exercise and shower. And then, most days, they watch TV in the late afternoon so I can cook dinner in peace without worrying about small fingers reaching up to the cutting board where I am chopping vegetables with sharp knives. I don't really feel bad about it because I think they get plenty of opportunities for learning and interaction with others, and sometimes I just need them to stay quietly in one place without destroying things, but the following things have made me think that maybe I should consider cutting back on their TV time.


1. Lauren's Christmas list this year included just about everything she saw on a commercial from October on, including, but not limited to, Anna and Elsa Skate Around, LaLa Loopsy Diaper Surprise, Kinetic Sand, a Sofia the First bike (she has two perfectly good bikes), a Care Bear, Nixies (she got one and it is her favorite gift), Kigurumi animal pajamas, Digi Birds, and on and on.

2. Andrew turns to me immediately after Lauren's school bus pulls away every day and says, "Me watch tb?" Unless we have errands to do, I usually don't have a good reason for saying no, so he usually does.

3.  When Lauren is watching TV, she frequently runs into whatever room I am in and tells me things like:

• "Mom, I just heard on TV that 1.5 million people use ABCmouse.com. Don't you think we should get it too?"
• "Can we watch TV next Friday at 9? There's a special Peppa Pig."
• "Do you think Delsym would make my cough better?"
• "Mom, I just heard that Kohl's is open 24 hours!"
• "Mom, do you like to pay less?"
• "Is that paper towel Bounty? Bounty lasts longer than the regular kind."

4. Andrew only knows two letters - A and O - but he can name every member of the Paw Patrol.  And he sometimes lies in bed at night muttering to himself, "Supa Why, Bubble Duppies, Peppa Pig, Paw trol..."  

I should probably resolve to keep the TV turned off more often, but I probably also won't worry too much about it. After all, Nickelodeon frequently reminds me that by watching these shows, kids learn valuable skills like teamwork and problem solving. So, really, it's for their own good. 

Christmas photos

At the Enchanted Village

We went to a Polar Express Story Time at the library and made trains out of food. Just what we needed - more junk food.

We had an abundance of red frosting, so the ginger people became Santa and Mrs. Clauses. I think they turned out quite well.

Andrew's cookie decorating. My patience ran out about 20 minutes and whole cup of sprinkles in and I sent him into the other room to watch TV.

That carit sure was tasty.

Every present Andrew picked up he said he thought was a "choo choo train."

When he finally did open a choo choo train he said "Me happy now."

How to eat a gingerbread house.

Sicko

Lauren likes to illustrate daily life around here. The past couple of days have consisted of Andrew being sick and vomiting multiple times, soooo......

...here's Andrew throwing up in a cup. Notice the bug in his stomach. That would make me sick, too.

"Funny" Story

We got a new car!

Not really. Our car just has a lot of new parts. And it feels like we've paid for a whole new car.

This was us last Sunday. We had just gotten our car back from the shop literally 24 hours earlier with a new transmission, new fuel sensor and new thermostat. We were attempting to go to Stake Conference and were talking about how nice the car sounded when we heard a whistling, then a clink, then a clunking, then we stopped. Luckily, there is a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, so we were able to barely pull in the drive. Also luckily, another member drove by right after we stopped and took the kids to Stake Conference with them. We called a tow truck and waited and bemoaned our fate. The tow truck came, and we realized we couldn't even drive the car onto it because one wheel was basically hanging on by a thread, so they had to lift the front end and tow it back to the shop on the back wheels. Everyone we knew was 30 miles away at Stake Conference, so Preston and I called a cab to take us home.

The next day, we finally got some "good" news. The dealership admitted that they had failed to replace a bolt in the wheel and fixed it at no charge and gave us two free oil changes. We got the car back that night and so far (knock on wood), we haven't had any more issues.

Now if we could only get a break from the large unexpected expenses for a few months, we might be able to save some money and actually get a new car someday.  Someday.

Austen

I just finished reading Mansfield Park and can finally say that I have read my way through the Jane Austen anthology. Some I haven't read since high school, but I have read them all, including Lady Susan. And now, for your reading pleasure I will rank the Jane Austen novels in order of most to least favorite.


1. Persuasion
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Mansfield Park (I saw the movie of this before reading the book, and I can't decide if that made me like it 
more or less. I think less because I knew what was coming and I kept visualizing the characters as their actors in the film.)
5. Northanger Abbey
6. Emma


If we were talking movies, my rankings would be quite different. I know there are multiple versions of many of these, but I'm talking the most famous version, probably the one you have seen or think of first.


1. Pride and Prejudice (A&E/BBC version)
2. Mansfield Park
3. Emma
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Persuasion (loved the book, but the movie was boring and hard to follow)
6. Northanger Abbey (I haven't seen a movie version of this. There probably is one, but I can't imagine it being very good.)

How would your list differ from mine?

October Things

This post is supposed to be about all the fun, festive things I did during October with cute pictures accompanying. It is actually going to be me rambling with a few bad cell phone pictures thrown in. Fair warning.

Oh well.

Lauren started asking me right at the beginning of October if she could paint a pumpkin. I don't know where she got the idea, but she wasn't giving it up, so I eventually found a pumpkin patch nearby that did pumpkin painting and Lauren and Andrew both got to paint one. It was only five dollars for the two pumpkins, so maybe next year, I'll do one too.

Lauren's (top step) is a witch. In case you couldn't tell.

Lauren said right after Halloween last year that she wanted to be Minnie again this year and I held her to it, even when she started talking about a certain ice queen. She ended up very happy about it, although she has already decided to be Elsa next year. (Can we borrow your costume, Tracy?)

                                 

Andrew's "fire truck man" costume was the laziest and cheapest costume ever. I got the fireman raincoat and boots at Savers more than a year ago and he wears them every rainy day. Throw on a hat from a touch a truck event at the library and a costume is made.  He also wore the veterinarian (aka doggie doctor) costume Mom gave him last year to the ward party. It was totally adorable, but I didn't get any pictures.

My attempts at being a "fun mom" on Halloween consisted of pumpkin shaped pumpkin pancakes and apple-peanut butter-marshmallow "smiles." I thought about doing mummy dogs, but we had hot dogs on the fire the week before and I didn't want to buy hot dogs again; plus, I've gotten kind of picky about hot dogs and really prefer all beef nitrate-free ones, which are obviously way more pricey than Bar-S franks.

The other thing that happened this month was that Lauren learned to ride a bike with "only two wheels!"  Preston planned a whole afternoon to teach her. It took about two minutes.

He still hasn't figured out how to actually turn the pedals and go.

The Definitive Guide to Proper Nutrition

You should not be consuming dairy. Milk is for baby cows, not grown humans. You should be consuming dairy, but only organic. And raw.  And full fat. Make that low fat. I guess the jury's still out.

But grains. You should definitely not be consuming grains. Actually, you can consume grains, just not wheat. Gluten was invented by Satan himself. Grains are good, as long as they're whole. And the weirder the name, the better. Quinoa, millet, amaranth, and teff are way better than rice, wheat, and corn. And of course, they must be organic. And non-GMO. You absolutely, positively cannot consume genetically modified food. You will become a mutant. But you'll probably be a naturally pest-resistant mutant, so hey.

Meat. Meat is good because cavemen ate it. Meat is bad because it's cruel to eat animals and it makes us sick. If you're going to eat meat, make sure it's lean. Actually fattier meats are good. Just make sure it's grass fed and pastured. If you're not paying at least 4 times as much for your meat, it will kill you. And never eat anything that was raised more than 50 miles away from you.

Fruit. Fruits are good, except for all that sugar. Sugar makes you fat and sick, so don't eat too much fruit. And if you do, organic and in season. I shouldn't have to tell you that.

Nuts are good, except that they have too many omega-6's and not enough omega-3's. Plus, they have phytic acid, which is bad, bad, bad. Also, they're too cheap and too tasty to be healthy (I'm serious). And they can make you fat. But they can also keep you slim, so keep that in mind.

Overall, just make sure you're consuming a mostly low fat diet with plenty of healthy carbs.

Actually, you want to eat a high fat diet with very few carbs. That will make you skinny and healthy.


Wasn't that a fun exercise?

I have always been interested in nutrition and I like to try new recipes and foods and find new ideas about serving the same foods. In that process, I have come across various blogs and websites that claim all of the above. Obviously, all of the above can't be true. So, what gives?  Is good health just a matter of what sounds most appetizing to you?  Or is what sounds most unappetizing what will make us healthiest? (Anything fermented does not sound the least bit appetizing to me.)  Do we have to try all the different diets to find what works?  It is all very confusing and if you think too much about it, can really get you down, not to mention, really drain your bank account.  I have vaguely wondered over the past year or so if I should try a paleo diet, an acid-alkaline diet, a ketogenic diet, or a whole foods organic diet.  I have even had the thought, "It would be nice if the church came out with a diet and told us what was healthy."

Duh.  They have!  Sure, it's coming up on 200 years old, but the 10 commandments are a lot older than that, and we still follow them. I was pleased to see several articles in the Ensign earlier this year about health, nutrition, and the Word of Wisdom. They reaffirmed the principles in the Word of Wisdom and frankly, they just made sense.

• "In societies where excesses are the norm, we need to apply wise judgment and moderation. Moderation means restraint within reasonable limits and refraining from excess (see D&C 59:20). We can exercise moderation when deciding how much and how often we need to eat and by resisting media messages that encourage unwise eating habits that can bring unwanted health risks."  -Beverly Hyatt Neville

• "Although the confirming evidence provided by modern science may give us additional reasons to keep the Word of Wisdom, it is ultimately our faith in the Lord’s word and our consistent obedience to this revelation that will qualify us for the promised blessings:" - G. Craig Kiser

Something I really like about the Word of Wisdom is that it is practical, both in what it tells us to avoid and in what it encourages us to eat. Everyone can follow the principles in the Word of Wisdom and still live within their means. Not everyone can buy grass fed beef, coconut oil, medjool dates and a blendtec blender to make organic smoothies with. The Word of Wisdom encourages simplicity. Simplicity is good. Making eating complicated and stressful is not good. 

So, here is my definitive guide to proper nutrition:  Follow the principles in the Word of Wisdom. Obviously, if something like wheat or dairy makes you sick, don't eat it. Eat healthy foods in healthy amounts and then stop thinking about food. Find something else to do. Read a book to your child, go for a walk, do a craft, or visit somebody.

If I die a few years earlier because I ate non-organic produce, oh well.  I know where I'm going, and hopefully, I will have spent my time and money while I was alive helping somebody else instead of obsessing over my omega-3/omega-6 balance. 

That's what I think.