Yet again, we have entered a new stage at Casa de Dwinell. It's always an adventure around here and things are ever changing. My head is usually spinning trying to keep up, but what is becoming more and more obvious to me is how hard I need to be working to keep up.
So, the Christmas lists at this house are a little different this year than any other year. We have exited the stage of wanting Thomas the Train and Disney Movies and entered the stage of wanting all things technology.
Brooks and Bosten have been working on me for an ITouch for several months now and that is the #1 thing on their list for Birthday/Christmas this year. Parker, who is 5 mind you, wants an IPod Nano and a Kindle Fire. Angry Birds is their drug of choice and doing their math practice homework and sight word flashcards on these little electronic flashcards seems to somehow be more fun than studying for real.
We did get them the ITouch for their Birthday's on December 10th and they understood that they were are big part of their Christmas this year as well. So, as I speak, they have all their little friends over and they are playing wrestle mania in the living room and filming it to put it on YouTube. Kind of like their very own living room version of Ultimate Fighting. UGH! Frightening. Clearly I won't allow for this to actually happen, but its just crazy to me that that is their agenda. I wonder what they would say if I told them that their Mom was alive when there was NO Internet and I didn't have a cell phone till I was a Junior in college. Even then, I only got it because my college was 5 hours away from home and my Parents were concerned about me having car problems to and from Texas Tech.
I started to read some excerpts from the book "Weird" last night after a dear friend of mine told me that she had been reading it and I just loved it. It talks about how we all just spend the majority of our time trying to fit in and be normal. What if we spent that much energy trying to be "weird" with God as our focus. Making our decisions based on something bigger than what everyone else is doing. I would love to have a weird family. I definitely already try to be weird on a daily basis and do what is right for us despite what others say is what we should be doing, but its getting harder because we are getting bombarded from every angle. As the boys get older, their access is greater whether I know it or not. One of my biggest goals this New Year will be to reign it in on my babies. It happens overnight, but they are growing up way too fast. I do my best to keep them involved in age appropriate activities, but they know way more than I would like them to. Its time to get serious about filling their brain with value focused information.
I know that I'll be set up to fail, so I have to get very serious about this goal. Technology can be great if its used for the right reason. My Husband did get Parker and I the Kindle Fire for Christmas and I was setting it up last night so that it will already be ready for playtime when its opened this Christmas. I was downloading apps off of Amazon and was excited to be able to download for free a study bible that helps me to read the bible with my kids at a moments notice and with no clear direction. It shows me exactly how to get where I want to go. The Fire also has a ton of kids books that can be downloaded from Amazon or just borrowed from your local library. This will be awesome for sitting in bed snuggling with my kids and starting great conversations about life lessons.
So, my point is, Technology isn't all bad. Its a wonderful tool if you are intentional about how you choose to use it with your kids. This will be a whole new adventure in the upcoming months.......so say a little prayer for Dustin and I that we can stay on top of it and be intentional in our time and opportunities to influence our kiddos.
We were laughing last night because running after these three kids requires us to have so much energy and to pretty much be tireless. The great thing about having the kids so close together is that when Dust and I are 45, they will all be shipped off to college within the same year. I know I'll be sad, but then about 5 minutes later I plan on doing a happy dance and taking a long much deserved vacation involving nothing but snuggling with the Hubs and laying like broccoli on the beach. We laughed because at this point our goal is to stay focused for the next 12 years so that when the time comes for them to go, they can go. We don't need any baby Daddy's around here, or MIP's, or being held back in school.........basically our goal is to just keep anything that can cause them to have to stay home from happening. We can do anything for 12 years, but at the end of those 12 years, I pray with every ounce of my body that I can parent in a way between now and then that I can drop kick their little booties out of my house with confidence that day 12 years from now. Confidence that they have all the tools, technological or not that they need to conquer the world.
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