“When it comes to technology and the kids nothing promised is permanent, nothing is etched in stone.  We try something and if it works, great.  If not?  Well, we try something else…

Which brings us to our latest shift.  It seems even our best efforts can’t get the kids enough non-screen time altogether, so BrightSide came up with the radical idea of no screens on Sundays.  I’ll repeat that.  An entire day without technology.  None.  At all.  Every single week.”

The goal of Friday’s post, basically, was the hope that sending good thoughts out into the universe might bless us with a semi-peaceful attempt at living tech-free for a day.  I wasn’t looking for Ghandi-like enlightenment, just sixteen or so hours with limited squabbling.

Here’s how it went.

Sunday dawned dim and rainy, almost as if God was throwing down with us.  You want to go tech free for the day?  Fine.  Do it while stuck indoors without movies, YouTube, phones, TV, video games, streaming music, or any of the other crutches you’ve been leaning on for years.

Well, go big or go home, right?

7:20am – Bear and I are getting ready to leave for church when T-man makes his first pitch.  It’s rainy so they’ll be stuck inside, “but I’m trying to exercise and get healthy.  Hey!  You know, my xBox Live has two games on it that are real workouts, you saw us come out all sweaty after playing volleyball yesterday, so I was thinking -”

No.  Just…no.  But feel free to ask your dad and we’ll talk after church.

They leave their phones at home so 8:00-12:30 is beautifully question-free.  By the time we all make it back home from church stuff, family lunch, and grocery shopping for school the kids are raring to go.  As BrightSide and I tried vainly to nap, a neighbor joins the kids for what turns into an incredibly rowdy game of Monopoly (I can’t remember ever being that reved up about Park Place) and something that involved throwing items against the bedroom door.

That’s when our house turns into boot camp.

It seems we’ve discovered the key to encouraging a healthy lifestyle.  Some kids, if you took away anything requiring an outlet or battery, might turn to books or Legos or art.  But not T-man.  For the next few hours he led Bear and Robin [see: Batman’s sidekick] in sit ups, push ups, squats, lunges, wall sits, planks, and even (yes, even) sprints up and down the stairs.  Y’all, the house was shaking.

But you know what they weren’t doing?  They weren’t asking to play video games or use their phones.

It’s not like I think it’ll be easy sailing from here on out, but for a first day?  I’d say it was a good start.