The Sign That London Read

So.

Since I’m working with Hands On!  that means extra trips to Hendersonville to the museum.

And I’ll take any excuse to head to that fantastic Main Street.

Seriously – I feel as if it’s a mini-vacation just to cross the border on the beautiful mountain drive and wander up and down the sidewalks.

(And no, I’m not working for the town of Hendersonville.  Although I probably would.)

Anyway.

The kids and I have a pretty basic routine to our excursions.

But this trip we stopped at a little area that said “bird sanctuary” that Danny and Beckey had pointed out to us last time we were there together.

It was sweet.  Not extensive or worth a field trip by itself, but as a stopping point when we are already there – it was perfect.

We spread a blanket in the sunshine, I made sandwiches and the kids drew birds in their nature notebooks.  (School on the road – I love that.)

And then we jumped back to our regular rendezvous stops.

One of which is Dancing Bear Toys, a fun toy store that allows my kids to play with all the toys but not purchase all the toys.  Win-win!

Actually, I do love to buy birthday presents there because I love local and I love small businesses and I love the unique toys they offer that don’t look like what you’d find at the crazy-making Toy-R-Us style stores.

But where was I going with this?

Oh.  Yes.

The trip to the toy store that will probably ruin my next week.

That’s where I was going with this post.

Wait for it, friends, I’ll get there eventually.

London spotted a sign.  And it said that if you entered the challenge next week then you could earn a $5 gift card to the toy store.

And now London wants to enter this challenge.

And so do all of the other kids that reside under our roof.

And what is that challenge, you may be wondering.

How does this challenge potentially ruin my next week?

Well.

It’s Turn Off Your TV week.

No screens, no TV, no video games.

For seven days.

(April 30 to May 6)

And I’m not really a TV fan.  I like to say that I utilize it as a tool only occasionally.

But I wonder how true that is.

Because we all have days, right?

Like yesterday.

When Kevin was going to be gone for work until the kids’ bedtimes and I knew the day would be long and it was rainy and dreary and all of us were finding excuses not to do school.

And I bartered with my own children on that rainy gloomy morning and offered them the chance to watch a movie during lunch if we finished a set amount of school work in the morning.

And then, later that same day, when a friend popped over for a visit I let the kids redeem their beans for screen time for much longer than anticipated so I could catch up with my friend.

No screens – huh?

For seven days?

Who will be more challenged?

I’m ashamed to admit this – reallyreally ashamed – but I’m kind of nervous about those seven days.

(If you want to join our challenge, you can read the details on the Hands On! blog.  And, if you’re local, and you decide to ban the screens for seven days, you might as well let your kids get a reward from Dancing Bear too!)