Tuesday Night Party and a Celebration of Screen-Liberation

I am convinced that the children spend far too much time in front of screens in general, and playing video games in particular.  I often think, and sometimes talk, about possibly forbidding screenage on school nights - not so much to get them to do homework, although this is an added benefit, but primarily to get them off screens and possibly into their own, and each other's, lives for a solid four days a week.  Amy and I agree in principle that this would be a good policy...

So last night, as I was driving them home, I said they couldn't go on screens tonight.  What shocked me the most was the relative calm of the response.  Daniel predictably crywhined along a very obvious musical score; although the indignation was probably authentic, he had to work, it seemed, to keep up the outburst.  But Ian and Madeleine simply didn't say anything - didn't complain - and when we got home,  things were quiet.

Amy said that the last time she kept them from going on screens, it was wonderful; in short order they were playing with each other, and had a wonderful evening.  Last night, almost as soon as we got home, Daniel asked Ian, "Ian - wanna have a bed battle?"  I'm sure that whatever a "bed battle" is, isn't not particularly safe for the bed, or for the combatants, but it was very clear that they were already thinking about other things to do - things that actually involved each other. 

Daniel asked if he could use the radio.  Yes, you can play the radio.  So then he decided to use it to provide music for a party.  And the next thing I knew, everyone was organizing a party.  The boys asked me what I was bringing to the party; it turned out that they wanted food.  I was in the middle of making supper, and Ian said that I could bring the supper to the party.

By the time supper was done, the party was already going strong.  I came upstairs with four bowls of spaghetti and meatballs, and Daniel was playing the radio in full regalia; in his capacity as DJ, he was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses - if I recalll - and, best of all, plastic beads.  He plaid the Pokemon CD, among other party treasures.  He had rice cakes on the dresser, along with strawberry jelly and a knife to spread it.  The boys played with Legos on the floor. 

But the best details of the party were the entertainment centers.  Daniel laid two foam swords on his bed, along with a hand-made sign:  "Sword Fighting Center".  Then, on the dresser, he set out a stack of white 8.5 x 11 inch paper, with a pen next to it, and a sign that read, "Drawing Center."  The party was designed for whatever activity best suited the desires of each partygoer, at any moment.

I was delighted to discover that, when you remove the white-noise-machine of video entertainment, you don't just end up with quiet; you get a party which never would have happened otherwise, complete with all the entertainment a very resourceful nine-year-old boy can think of.

(May 12, 2015)