puttin' the smack down!

like many american families we own a wii, computer(s), and now the infamous ipad. i tried to keep my kids interests in these sorts of things at bay, but with a daddy who gets giddy at the sight of any new techie toy i knew that it wouldn't be long before i would have to cave. while gracie could live without the wii and/or video games, jack just has this obsession. it's kind of a guy thing, i think. beating levels, finding codes and treasures and such are all beyond my understanding. it's fun for them and something that they do together *mostly* without fighting and arguing. we have always been cautious of time spent on these sorts of things but most recently we have had to put some serious boundaries in place.

we took a break from our daily schooling over the christmas and new years holidays and pretty much gave free reign to all things technological since the ipad was new and a few new wii games appeared under the tree. boy was that a mistake! our first week back to school was hard! getting back into reading and focusing on non-moving things mode was tough... especially for jack.  i also started to notice that the children just assumed because we have these things they think they deserve to play them all the time, no matter what. uh, hello.... i don't think so! 

after having used some nifty chore charts that i found on pinterest, it gave me an idea to create some behavior charts for them. and better yet... they could earn their greatest commodity: techie time!  at the end of everyday we go over the charts and talk about which areas they succeeded and which areas they failed. if they succeeded in being kind that day for example, they get a star on that day- worth 5 minutes of tech time! you get the point. they have an opportunity to earn a pretty big chunk of time to play over the weekend, but we have only gotten up to 35 minutes earned so far. ;)   

our desire for our children is that their behavior would reflect that of Jesus and that their hearts will understand their own sin and will be drawn to repentance without the use of a chart. but for the time being, this has been a good way to turn to God's word when we need a reminder on how to behave and treat others. and while they struggle to 'do the right thing' (don't we all!?) we have had some pretty good days lately! kindness has prevailed (a few times), obedience is sweet, and their tech time is something they don't take for granted!

if you have the same issues as we did feel free to use our chart! i have included the link and you can download it as a .pdf and print one for yourself! 

go HERE for the download!