While we aren't completely off grid yet, and my partner and I both work jobs off the homestead, we have cut out many things that take up our time from our homestead, our Sawyer, and our couple time together.
One of them being:
.
.
.
.
.
WE HAVE NEVER HAD TV OR INTERNET
The last thing that we want is to waste our time and money on something that fills our head with nonsense and introduces unhealthy lifestyle choices into our child's mindset.
That being said, we both have Iphones, and I have an ipad that I use my hotspot to connect to the web with while at home.
I do most of my steeming at work Shhhhhhh
Yesterday, Sawyer spent a few hours down the road at her grandmas house. While I am a lenient woman when it comes to people spending time with her... It made me feel uneasy when I came to pick her up to see her popped infront of the TV watching a garbage cartoon where a teen vampire found an evil doll from her childhood that forced her to have Tea parties all day. It was disturbing....
BUT I COULDN'T STOP WATCHING
That's the most unsettling thing. I'm a full grown woman...who on any given day has no interest in vampires, dolls, or tea parties but somehow I was getting drawn in.
So in hindsight what potential harm could that do to a child who is only 3?
So many parents especially young parents use TV as a crutch. You just plop your kid there and go about your chores. Sometimes I envy that, but I know every time Sawyer asks about our "baby" plants, or insists on doing the watering by herself that she is learning that the things you take time to nurture, grow.
I know that every time she trips and falls, she is gaining balance.
I know that when she picks up grubs, slugs and creepy bugs she is actually EXPERIENCING what it is to be a child.
Yes, chores take 3x as long, and most days there are failures and short comings.
But Sawyer is growing, and learning, and becoming more self sufficient.
She communicates better than almost all the kids her age and older at her school. She knows the life cycle of a butterfly.
She knows the difference between a spider, and a potato bug... because she has held and examined them both.
She knows an agate is a pretty rock and a maggot is a baby fly.
She knows these things because she is in part made of these things.
Instead of watching a scripted child actor pretend to have fun on a television.
These are my thoughts, but I WANT to hear yours!
Please comment how your child has benefited from growing up outside.
Do you have TV?
What about Internet?
As always, have a beautiful day! I appreciate you taking the time to read... and upvote if you think a TV-Less child is a healthy child!