The other day, our WIFI wasn't working and we all know that in today's day and age how inconvenient that can be!! It was a public holiday and the weather was gloomy and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on some blog work before the bigger kids came out of their rooms looking for food (teens...need I say more). Needless to say I was a little frustrated that so many good ideas were getting wasted.
But do you know what else happened? The kids crept out of their rooms and climbed into my bed. They made tents and fortresses out of duvets and pillows. They played hide and seek and wrestling games...and we got to chat around the kitchen table over hot chocolate and tea. And even though the house didn't stay all that neat, it was filled with laughter and giggles and sounded very much the way childhood should!
And all the while it didn't quite sink in what was happening. How the house was suddenly alive and bustling again. How there was no arguments over passwords and earphones. How my room, even though a bit messy, was filled with feet and limbs and bodies that were once small but now surpassed my own! My house was vibrant and alive and filled with the electric energy that kids naturally bring... which, during recent times, had started to fade...or maybe it hadn't...but I had stopped being observant about those things.
And then the penny dropped! When husband got home from work and asked the kids what they were up to while he was gone; and my son promptly replied " We communicated with each other the entire day because the WIFI wasn't working!"
Naturally this made me laugh out loud, but it also made me realise that we've slowly become lost behind our screens (more so me than the kids) and that I've been selfishly using the children's WIFI time as my own quiet time. For a little while my kids were safely within my four walls, but we were all slowly getting lost to the internet! So I've decided to be pro-active about it all and restrict everyone's screen time, especially my own, and have more 'face to face' time and more time doing things kids should...or parents should...or a bit of both.
By evening, the internet is working again and all the kids were back in their rooms *sigh*. But I didn't mind, because we had a productive day in each others company...and I really needed to write this blog post ;-)
Peace,
NAMU :)
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