The first day of our technology fast, I was a little worried. Lil’ Man cried for at least twenty minutes for the iPad and I’ll admit, I lied and told him Daddy took it with him out of town for work just to cushion the blow a little. But after that first day, he was fine and didn’t ask or cry for it anymore. Fortunately, accepting the word “no” with computer games wasn’t a hard pill for him to swallow. He isn’t nearly as addicted to the computer as he is to the iPad.
I’ve let him watch television, but only for me to cook a meal or help my third grader with homework. I also caved on Friday and let him watch a lot of the fun Halloween shows that Disney aired. As he’s watched less television, he’s in turn, requested it less during down time. He also became more content to do other things if I was busy with the inevitable household chores.
What did we do to pass the time?
All of this playing left me pretty worn out by the end of each day, but I did enjoy it. And I have to admit … there’s been more clean up, more work, but also more talking.
Maybe that infamous study on SpongeBob that came out last year that made me roll my eyes has some validity to it. (For the record, I hate SpongeBob, but it is inevitable when you have three boys that this character is going to sneak his way into your life).
According to the Yahoo article, the study showed that: watching just nine minutes of that program can cause short-term attention and learning problems in 4-year-olds. Sixty children participated in this study and they were divided into groups. Each group did a different activity for nine minutes: watch SpongeBob, Caillou, or draw pictures. Afterwards they were tested and those who had watched SpongeBob did measurably worse than the others.
Definitely food for thought.
What about my technology fast? I’ve been really good and haven’t checked into Facebook, Pinterest or done any apraxia research. I’ve also just checked my email a maximum of two times a day and never from my phone. I like these changes because I had more time to do other, more important things during the day and I also felt less stressed. I did indulge mid-week and read the blogs that I follow. For me, it has been easier than I thought, but I’m basically cheating, so I don’t know if I can count being on a diet and still getting to eat a handful of cookies a day as real deprivation.
Jake's Journey with Apraxia 
Well as long as you still have time to read my blog I’m ok with this “fast” lol
Kudos to you… I know Colt needs to detox off tv – but its so hard with the baby that I use it ALOT when I need to feed Cooper attend to Cooper etc… not good… but I am too much of a wimp to do anything about it.
You’re my hero!
Of course I’m still reading your blog! It’s about the funnest thing I got going on in my daily life right now! btw- still haven’t made that trip to Old Navy yet. Oh, to have Jenny live close by & be my personal shopper … 🙂 Yes, it’s been very hard for me to decrease the television, but I was really surprised at how he got used to it pretty quick & just naturally started wanting to do other things instead. Thanks for your kind words!