Screen Time

 

What the crap is screen time and why is it the latest buzz phrase in parenting? This is ridiculous. Last night I heard this statement said to me about someones parenting. " We only allow 2 hours of screen time after chores and homework are done" My response........wait for it..........."WTF IS SCREEN TIME? "  The answer was , well you know, a long drawn out excuse for using the video games and TV. I DO not believe in either as a parenting tactic or as a "activity" Yes, our son watches TV, he is 4, loves Transformers and Max and Ruby. Does he get to watch daily....not usually. TV is for when your sick. It's a treat. Video games are not allowed in my house by my son or The Illegals.  Gary Anaka happens to agree with me. He is a fabulous speaker and presenter on brain health. Check him out here . All a child needs is his/her imagination, a bucket and shovel, books and lego. I firmly believe this. Now you could say " we only let so and so use video games that are educational" BULLSHIT. Video games in their nature teach our kids to not use their brains( repetitive movements) sit still and not talk. Here is a list of fabulous things you and your kids should do, but first buy gumboots!
1) Play with lego, duplo, mega blocks, jenga pieces....whatever
2) Garden...............GET DIRTY. I mean really dirty..gardening gloves are for sissies. You don't want to be a Sissy do you?
3) Get some chickens, dig them worms, step in poo in your bare feet
4) TURN OFF THE SCREENS
5) Nature walks
6) BEACH
7) When it pours rain build a fort and TALK to your kids. They are amazing little beings and you will learn something. Hint: leave the dishes and cleaning for a day
8) Board games- even a 2 year old can play Yahtzee
9) Ride a bike
10) Just don't turn the TV on. You can do it and you will be sooooo glad you did. Not just for your kids but for yourself.

 A few months ago we turned off the tv and went over a month without our son watching it. It was an amazing experience and now after he is done watching a show he gets up and turns it off( if he makes it 30 min, lol) We talk more, love more, learn more and laugh a lot more. No one is brain dead and drooling at a screen. Join the bright side and put down the controllers.

Bliss Balls! No...not my husband's!

A favorite around this place with my family and the "everything in a box" illegals is Bliss Balls( insert heavenly gates opening and harp music) Basically you dust off the food processor, it is wayy too time consuming to make this by hand/knife.
Add 1 c. of nuts..any kind and grind until totally ground.
Then add
10-14 dates ( pitted.DUH)
A handful of raisins, coconut whatever suits you.
A tbsp of raw cacao( if you want)
Grind again then while it's grinding slowly pour in 1-2 tsp of honey, maple syrup, agave...again, whatever suits you.
 Roll into balls and dust with cacao, coconut, whatever......you get the picture.

The last batch I made was almond then I had some trail mix hanging around and made a batch of trail mix balls. I always roll them in ground coconut..delicious! I made 2 batches that day and had no to show for it within 2 days. I would say there were 3 dozen there. I make them kid sized and call them unbaked cookies. I cheat like that.

 As a side note.....my Hubby bought me a book! The Illustrated Guide to Country Living by Abigail R. Gehring.
It's not a book I would buy myself as it has a ton of subject but doesn't go in depth into any of them. I do however love that there are little sections called "Junior Homesteader" with projects simple and advanced, for Kids! Awesomeness. We are going to do Compost Lasagna with the illegals next month. It has some handy recipes. One that I was skeptical about as I have run out of nearly every staple in the house but still wanted cookies. I modified the recipe to suit my taste lack of groceries.
Here is my version:

Oatmeal Cookies
2 eggs ( beat separately)
3 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar( any variety)
2 cups oats (rolled)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut

Beat eggs, add to bowl and throw everything else in and mix well. Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for 8-10 min. Now of course bake time depends on how big you make your cookies.

Our gardens are looking decent  LAME!!! We are having soo much rain and cooler temps that my 3 plots( in various locations within the city, lol) are doing ...well...MEH. Very disappointing. I am hoping the weather perks up and we get a heat wave soon. My gardening pride is on the line. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Beliefs.

I have beliefs and so do you all. We are all different and our beliefs reflect that. My beliefs hoover somewhere in witchcraft, nature and trying to be a good person. I am a good witch. I don't believe in meddling in my art. You can't dip your toes into the darker waters of witch craft..........you drown in it. I went to church as a child and never quite understood hos being in a uncomfortable seat once a week in a gymnasium could make god love me? Shouldn't we be more? Want more? What about the man who beats his family and goes to church on Sunday? How does he get a hall pass? Church people were balls deep in gossip.........how did that fit in? Anyways I came from a family where we were taught it was good to question, wonder, seek answers, love, hate, cry, laugh, forgive and most of all try to be a good person. . Religion did not teach me that. My parents did. My Dad's tombstone should say " Gone to see for himself" when he dies. I get my suspicious and inquisitive nature from him. I get my intuition and confidence from my Mudder. My short temper, sharp tongue and humour I get from both. When 2 of their daughters announced one day that they were witches...neither blinked. After all, it ran in our family. I have a nature/kitchen based witchery and my sister has a more traditional based system. Neither of us has a coven, but we have a uncanny love for animals that is rarely understood by others. We love the bad ones..the unacceptable ones. Most animals in our house growing up and now are wicked creatures with personality that would put most humans to shame, our children too! We have a third sister but she, like our mother, has no chosen faith and has said she wont reproduce...she has met the kids.  I think my natural draw to the hippy side helps with my choices. It's hard to put any one's beliefs, morals, ethics into a book.   My favorite saying on religion is " Whatever makes you a good person"  Faith is soo much more than our religion. I am fond of saying I don't have a religion and when anyone points out wicca as my chosen faith I scoff. Wicca is not what it once was..it is now a fad for school girls who buy wiji boards at toy stores. I believe in centuries old traditions. Witches should be revered and cherished not feared. I am a physician, teacher, home maker, healer, therapist and above all a good witch.  This is the best description of what my faith is based on and from the first time I read it I have cherished this.


Catechism for a Witch's Child

When they ask to see your gods

your book of prayers

show them lines

drawn delicately with veins

on the underside of a bird’s wing

tell them you believe

in giant sycamores mottled

and stark against a winter sky

and in nights so frozen

stars crack open spilling

streams of molten ice to earth

and tell them how you drink

a holy wine of honeysuckle

on a warm spring day

and of the softness

of your mother who never taught you

death was life’s reward

but who believed in the earth

and the sun

and a million, million light years

of being

I promise to get back to homesteading and good old fashioned home made tomorrow. Life around the condo has been insane these days. New illegals have come in, old illegals have left, summer is here and honestly we are never home, lol. I am currently refinishing some old furniture to well..make it look old! LOL That's up next on the blog along with bliss balls and home made Hippy chocolates! Stay tuned for this and more!