Confession: Sometimes I’m Too Much Like My Boys

I guess it’s time to ‘fess up:  sometimes I’m too much like my boys.

When it’s dinner time and the wife and I have called them to the table three, maybe four times and they are still in front of the Wii.  That’s frustrating.  When it’s time for bed and my wife and I have yelled downstairs several times, “C’mon boys, it’s time to brush your teeth and go to bed”, and still no response.  That’s down-right maddening.  I’d like to put all the blame on the television, the computer and the video games.  But…that would be unfair, wouldn’t it?

What is with those gadgets that suck us in and won’t let go?  It’s almost like a magnetic force field  — we simply can’t get away.  The digital hardware and software have no mercy for us.  It gets us in trouble so many times.  I’m not a big tv-watcher and video games are not my favorite past time either; however, the computer and the interwebs is a whole other story.  I’m drawn to the web like a moth to the flame.  I can surf until the cows come home.  Looking for new ways to improve my blog, a new method of creating a video, or just perusing the content of other blogs.  It’s crazy.  Sometimes I get to the point where I look at the screen and have NO IDEA how I got there.  There’s no way in hell I could trace my steps.

My poor wife.  She just doesn’t understand.  Guys are complex.  We are wired differently that she and her sisters and gal-pals.  It’s not our fault.   I tell her,  “We’re guys.  And guys are like that.”  She rolls her eyes and shakes her head in disbelief.

I admit:   I need to be a bit more in touch with my attention span shortcoming.  And the next time I yell at my boys, it’ll be like yelling at myself.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check my e-mail, my Twitter account and my RSS reader.

Photo:  Computer screens by Dan Strange on Flickr.

  • While my daughter is only 2-years-old right now, she's a television addict much like her father. I of course use it to my advantage from time-to-time. If I need to do something in another room of the house, I know that with Yo Gabba Gabba on, then she essentially be a zombie in the den for 20 minutes. If she's not eating her meal at the dinner table, I pull out the laptop and load up a playlist of Sesame Street songs - she proceeds to eat everything. Trouble is that she's so addicted now that she's conditioned to ask, insist, and cry for the television numerous times per day. She now knows that if she throws a fit in the car, I'll be at her mercy and stuck turning on her favorite Kermit video. The roles have reversed.

    In my opinion, the TV shows/videos have contributed to her ever-growing vocabulary, but her dependence on it and her ability to manipulate me by using it as an ultimatum (turn on the show or I'll keep screaming) frightens me.

    Recent NY Times article described how children with no limits on entertainment and media devices in their household grow up with more issues in school than kids who have strict limits on TV, video games, computer, etc.

    Hopefully I'm not building bad habits - your post is a bit of a wakeup call for me.
  • surprisedmom
    I like checking in on blog for comments. I'm addicted to that. I also Tweet. I have a FaceBook page and I belong to Dad-Blogs. I started to go overboard on the Internet, so I took a two month hiatus. It put things back into perspective, something I don't believe kids or teens have. They are so plugged in. Sometimes I would like to hide all the electronics and see what they would do. One thing makes me ridiculously happy, my girls are voracious readers. They have been reading since they were little. Now it's time for me to watch TV. :)
  • Hey "Mom" ... good idea: hide the electronics. I've threatened my family that we may go Amish for a week and see what happens. No electric, no running water. Ha! See how much we appreciate the simple things.

    Reading? Yes! Both my boys are avid readers. And have been for a long time. I am very happy about that. :-)
  • bdr0126
    I hear ya! My kids are almost impossible to pull away from video games and TV. I myself get inside this vortex and can't get out...I am in the ZONE man! Great Blog!
  • Ah yes, the vortex will pull you in....and not let go. It's crazy.
  • I try to teach my kids a lot of things, reading, writing, etc. but one thing I'm not concerned with teaching them is anything computer related. They just look at an electronic device and instinctively know what to do with it. They don't need our help except in matters of moderation when it comes to that stuff.
  • michaelhawkins
    Thanks for the comment. I completely agree. My kids are teaching ME things when it comes to electronic gadgets like iPods and the like. It's amazing.
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