No More TV

We got rid of the TV (actually we chose to put it in storage rather than ship it to Germany). It didn’t seem worth the hassle of getting adaptors and figuring out how to connect to the German television system. And it saves money. For travel and beer and wine. Because, we’re in Europe, y’all.

What do we do all day?!

Our days are really much like before: cooking, eating, cleaning, school lessons, more cooking, eating, cleaning, parks and playgrounds, hiking and playing, reading, chores, bedtime routines.

Because life continues despite our locale. Being a mama in Germany isn’t much different than being a mama when we lived in Utah, Hawaii, Texas, or Georgia.

I’ve been delighted to see my kids’ imaginations really develop.

Fairy traps, clover and daisy chains, lots of reading – both aloud and silently, individually and as a family, chores and helping and learning home economics, playing with educational toys, playing in bedrooms, listening to and playing music, playing board games, talking to each other, extra school lessons, research and note-taking and study skills, arts and crafts, make believe games, skits, outside play, nature study, hiking, scootering, biking, soccer (it’s called Fußball here, don’t ya know), learning German and French, field trips to interesting places – like castles and war monuments. PARIS.

We also have NO INTERNET. Still. I have to drive to the base library to use Wi-Fi and I max out my data plan on my iPhone by mid-month. Super fun.

It’s been about six months without Internet as we traveled across the country on our road trip and then over here to Germany. I’ve reevaluated my priorities and while most of you are sleeping, I am spending lots more quality time with my family than I did. I just can’t drive over to the base (almost 45 minutes away) to use the library wi-fi every time I want to post something. And all the libraries close by 7 during the week and by 5 on Fridays and the good one is closed weekends. I’m learning the limits of my iPhone, for sure. I am more a hands-free mama.

And of course during my solo trip to London over the weekend, I went wifi crazy in my hotel room and watched shows I missed, completed a single blog post (yay!), researched a few things on my neverending list, and just felt normal.

Sure, we each have an iPad and there are times when the kids play games too long, especially when it’s rainy and dreary, but they’re surprising me by choosing to do other activities much more often too. That’s unschooling, and I kinda suck at that, being the control freak that I am,

We often watch both fun and educational DVDs on the computers. The library has a great selection. We have a collection of beloved DVDs. And there’s this cool DVD rental store on base with lots of DVDs for cheapo.

We hope we get internet soon for so many reasons…and we shall resume streaming Netflix and Amazon videos.

Because I really miss Doctor Who.

Resources:

• American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales
• Disconnected: Youth, New Media, and the Ethics Gap by Carrie James
• Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle
• It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens by danah boyd
• iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us by Jean M. Twenge, PhD
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit by Richard Louv
• Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Kim John Payne and Lisa M. Ross
• Hands Free Life: Nine Habits for Overcoming Distraction, Living Better, and Loving More by Rachel Macy Stafford
• Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters! by Rachel Macy Stafford