My Battle with TV Consumption

I remember growing up with one TV in the house. That’s it. One.

As children we occasionally got to watch a Disney movie on VHS, and once we were older, we were allowed to watch about a half hour of TV after school. Then that was it for the day.

There was no TV in the kitchen while we ate breakfast. There were no TV’s in bedrooms to help us “wind down” in the evenings. We had one, and it wasn’t on that often.

And yes, I realize I’m aging myself by discussing VHS’s right now. What can I say, I’m a total 80’s girl. Also, our children will never understand the need to rewind a movie all the way back to the beginning before returning it to the movie rental store. (Are there even movie rental places anymore? Thoughts to ponder…)

Anywho, I digress.

The point is: I grew up with one TV that we barely watched, so why do I feel the need to have mine on 24/7 as an adult? We rarely don’t have a TV on somewhere in the house. Does anyone else struggle with this? Or feel this is an issue?

For me, I can tell you a couple reasons why we have it on all the time:

It’s background noise. I always turn the TV on when I’m at home over my lunch hour, but I’m not always sitting and watching it. It’s just there as a distraction of sorts. Heaven forbid I spend my lunch hour in silence! *The horror.*

It’s a distraction for the kids. When Cory’s away and I’m trying desperately to finish making dinner before half of it's either too cold or burned to a crisp, you bet I turn to the TV. Please Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I need 10 minutes.

It’s easy. And I think this is the main reason and that’s what bothers me about it. When I’m in desperate need of a distraction for the kids and the TV is all that’s going to work for a bit? You bet I’m using it. But sometimes I wonder if I use it just because I’m tired and I don’t want to put the energy into trying to play or do something creative with them. Or for me personally, I always watch it at night after the kids go to bed. But I could spend that hour and a half reading, writing, or doing something else refreshing and creative. You know, using my brain cells. But the remote is easier to reach for so that’s what I do.

Obviously I’m not a total lunatic and feel that some TV is not all bad. I'm not an "all or nothing" kind of person. Everything in moderation. And I’m definitely not judging anyone or any Mom’s with this post! We’re all good Mom’s. You do you. I just think for me personally, I need to cut the cord a bit and try some new things. So going forward, I’ve got a few ideas:

Play music as background noise instead of the TV. I'm actually not sure why I don't do this already. Music is a favorite of mine and it always - hand's down - beats commercials. Yuck. If I'm desperate for some noise around the house, I'm going to try to reach for Spotify instead of my TV remote.

Work on writing instead of parking in front of the TV. As my first post states, I've felt a calling to get back to writing. I still don't know where it will lead, but I certainly know that TV is a distraction from working on this calling. Maybe for others it's not writing. It's crafting, baking, or connecting with loved ones. The point is, I don't think the TV does much for us in the long run of life.

Pick a different theme or creative activity to do each night with the kiddos instead of watching the TV. We have organized tubs in our basement (Ok, mostly organized tubs) with a different creative theme in each one. We have a tub for coloring and paper supplies, a tub full of puzzles, another with play-doh, and yet another with games and flash cards. I'm thinking instead of coming home every evening and just defaulting to the TV, I might pick one tub each week night for the kids to play with while I make dinner and pick up. Or maybe we pick one tub for the week and switch to something else the following week. My kids seem to get bored easily with the same toys and games, so rotating through different tubs is one option I have to keep them occupied and away from screen time.

Go outside. Ahh the fresh outdoors. I definitely think we could use some more Vitamin D as a family. Of course this one requires a bit more of my undivided attention (turns out toddlers still need quite a bit of assistance when playing outside), but I could use some more fresh air myself. So it's a win-win!

Having said all of this, I'm still realistic that cutting back on TV time will inevitably be a work in progress for me. My default is to usually turn the TV on in quiet moments or moments of boredom. I'm going to have to be intentional about choosing something else over it.

The point is, I’m in front of a computer 8 hours a day at work. I’m behind my phone screen each evening at some point to catch up on what my friends and family are up to on social media. I’m behind my laptop screen right now typing this post. If I’m already juggling this much screen time, why am I so desperate to be in front of the TV screen, too? For me and my family, it’s just time for a break.

It'll be a tough change, but I believe it'll be worth it in the end.

Muddling Through Parenting Littles

I have to be completely honest right now. I'm in a phase of life where I'm feeling a little... lost.

Most of my days revolve around how I'm going to manage to get the dishes done, the laundry caught up, and the house at least decently picked up, all while maintaining a full-time employee status, and dropping off and picking up the littles from daycare and school. And to top that all off, the hubs had foot surgery 3 weeks ago and while likely be in a boot and on crutches for at least another 3 weeks. So that counts him out of the a lot of the errand running, house maintenance, or even help with bath time.

Some days feel like I'm winning if I've simply survived.

Some days I'm so tired I wonder how I'm even functioning.

Some days I'm so emotionally drained that I end up crying and laughing at the same time, looking like a complete psychopath.

Some days, I'm so proud of getting everything done on my to-do list, until I look back on the day and realize that getting it all done resulted in less-than-quality time with my family.

Likewise, some days nothing gets done on the to-do list and it makes me feel like I'll be starting the next morning already behind the eight ball.

You guys. #thestruggleisreal

Please tell me I'm not alone here.

I have dreams and aspirations. I have goals and things I'd like to accomplish one day. Heck, sometimes I just want to have a cup of coffee in pure silence. Or get an entirely uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep without having to get someone a drink of water or take someone to the potty. (Actually, now that I'm entering my third trimester of the third pregnancy, I'd just like to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep without having to take myself to the potty.)

Truthfully, when I look at the big picture, I really am grateful. I've been blessed beyond what I deserve. I have a stable, flexible, well-paying full-time job, 2 healthy kiddos with a third healthy one on the way, and husband who works normal hours and is willing to pitch in around the house in the evening (albeit temporarily hung up on some crutches at the moment).

But ya'll, I'm exhausted. This parenting thing is not for the faint of heart. And parenting littles has got to be the most emotionally and physically draining experience of my entire life. It's so worth it, but it's so hard.

I read somewhere recently that it's possible to be exhausted and grateful at the same time. What a perfect way to describe parenthood. We wouldn't replace this time with our kiddos for anything, but it comes at the cost of decent rest and recuperation.

I've come to realize that I feel a little lost at times because my main goal for the day is to just make it through the day. Then focus on the next 24 hours and make it through that day.

Meanwhile I try to keep sight of the fact that these days will not last forever, and when bigger issues come down the road with my kiddos, I'll probably be wishing to have these simple, innocent days back.

For anyone else out there parenting littles, and trying to figure out how to do more than just survive, please know that you're not alone. God knows we're doing the best we can. Love on those squishy faces as hard as you can, and trust that some day sleep will return to our lives (hopefully minus the potty breaks).

The Power of a Word

Hello and welcome! I'm Kris, the author behind this blog. And if you know me, you know that this isn't the first blog I've created and dived into. So why another one?

Well, I've been reading Chrystal Evans Hurst's new book, She's Still There through the Proverbs 31 ministries bible study, and let me tell you, this book is challenging me. (I'd love to write more on it but I'll save that for another time because my reflections could equal another entire post.)

The book challenges each reader to find the person God created us to be. Because he doesn't create anyone by accident, and he has a purpose for each of us. It's up to us to be intentional about finding out what the purpose is. To ask ourselves, what skills and personality traits has he engrained in me?

After much prayer and contemplation, I truly believe there's one thing God has instilled in me that I just simply cannot shake off:

The love of words.

I adore them. I can't get enough of reading and writing. In high school and college, I always excelled at English classes. Math and Science... not so much. But let me write a paper and I'd get that covered easy peasy. Words come easily to me.

And there's so much power in a word! A kind word from a stranger can immediately lift your mood. Just like a song with sad lyrics can leave you feeling wounded and down. Words can make you feel something.

As mentioned previously, this isn't my first blog. In fact, to be perfectly honest, it's more like my 4th or 5th. (But who's counting?) In my prayerful consideration of starting up any sort of writing again, I'd like to dive into my thought process so you can get a taste for my background and what led me to start Simple & Soulful. 

I've always felt God whispering to me to write. Each time I felt the calling, I'd start a blog and dive head first into it. I'd buy a domain, create an About page and tabs, and then reserve all of the social media handles. But each time I did this, it just didn't feel quite right. Like I was pushing myself to do everything because if blogging was going to work, I needed to go all in and find ways to monetize it so I could quit my day job. Like I said, I've done this a few times before getting to where I'm at today. And each time, I'd get overwhelmed and quit, immediately feeling relief. Which would then lead me to believe that maybe God's will for me wasn't to write after all. So I'd give up and move on with my life.

However, this time, I'm doing things significantly different. I've had to really be quiet and listen, and really understand that the call to write is still there. It's a whisper I hear when I lay in bed at night. That ridiculously quiet time of night when everyone else is asleep, and all the lights are off, but my mind is still moving at break-neck pace. The whisper that says Just write....

Notice the whisper doesn't say Just write. Oh, and definitely buy a domain. And start all social media pages. And have your entire blog in a niche with your 1, 5, and 10 year plan. 

No. The whisper says Just write... 

That's it.

So simple, right? And yet I fee like I've been missing it all along. I've been going out of my way to push God's plan and put everything into a nice, shiny, package and timeline.

But not this time. In fact, if you were to stumble upon this blog today, you'd notice all that I have here is a header, and this post. No picture of myself. No "About" section. No social media pages. Not even a photo to go with this post. Just a few words, on a blank page. And I think that's all God's been asking me to do for now.

If my dreams were to come to fruition (and I pray they do someday), I would obviously love to be a professional writer who can help others and even quit her day job to sit in a coffee shop all morning and write.

But for now, I'm going to follow God's simple instructions and just work on writing. That's it. My blog doesn't fit into a special niche, and even though that's what all the professionals say you should do, I'm not going to do it this time. I'm just going to write.

After all, there's incredible power in a word.

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One last thought: I'd like to interject the verse that's been on my head for many years as I've dabbled in this writing thing. Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."

How refreshing does that sound, right? Some powerful words right there.