Friday Ideas

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Starting this Thursday night for a change, because the idea that is spinning in my head right now is stuck and needs to be put into words. Lately I have been pondering television, specifically how much of it we watch as a family. I know that the coldest week of the year is maybe not the ideal time to ponder shutting down the TV, but the more I think about Daniel's Playstation habit the more I am forced to look at all of our electronic media habits.

Luddite Response?

Point One

All of us could do with a little less time in front of the TV. With the introduction of the puppy and my losing my lunchtime walk I am forced to think about how to get some exercise time. And to be honest it would not kill me to fine tune and reduce my TV time. And I think Kim wouldn't mind either if we just turned off the TV at night and either exercised or played games.

Point Two

James has a decent handle on the TV and video game playing, but it's a close run thing. Daniel is clearly a Lego Star Wars junkie. Emily could give or take the TV, but she does get a serious daze sometimes when we turn on cartoons. It has been convenient for us (me especially) to just let the boys turn on cartoons/Playstation in the mornings and all day on weekends sometimes. And that is my bad, mea culpa for allowing that to happen.

Point Three

What do I do then on Weekday mornings and Saturdays until basketball starts? That's the question. I think we (me & the boys) can turn it around and survive but I need to ponder how to do it, and prepare strategies in advance. That's it for tonight, I'll talk to Kim about this more tonight and over the weekend, start thinking about how I want to handle it and what restraints I actually want to put in place for TV, Playstation, computer games etc.

Football

College football

Mercifully over for the Buffs, and just the Cotton Bowl for the Rebs, so this drag on my weekends is slowly disappearing. It's weird, I try hard every year to reduce the stranglehold of football, and every year I do a little better, but it is still there, wiping out my down time every weekend. I know it is a process, and I don't want to just cut myself off cold turkey, but I know I could do something better with all that time.

St. Louis Rams

Same old sorry Rams, this week facing one of their last, best chances for a win. Not that I think they will, what little hope they had for an end of season resurrection went away when Bulger got hurt. Now it is just a matter of continuing the season long training camp for the rookies & free agents, and angling for better draft picks. Sigh, well maybe my prediction that I made that the Rams will be back in LA in 5 years will come true, along with an improved team.

Denver Broncos

Really could have picked a better weekend for that road game against the Chiefs. Considering we are 1-16 against the Chiefs in December in KC, not a good way to maintain the momentum of that Giants win. Maybe things will be different with the new coaching staff, if there is any way for them to show that this would be it. I am seriously hoping it works out.