Screening Room

My son is a lover of screens.  TV, computer, Wii, iPad, iPod--he loves them all.  So, naturally, when he gets punished, the first thing to go is his screens.  That's what has the most effect.  Enough that he avoids punishment the next time?  No, not necessarily, but he is definitely on his best behavior to earn them back.
 
Once, in anger about a punishment, he yelled at me, "but you look at screens all day!" to which I replied, "but that's for my work."  True, a lot of my work does involve looking at a video screen, but in a way, he's right.  If I'm not editing, I am looking for jobs on posting sites, or sending emails about having coffee, or doing tutorials for a new software, or typing my blog.  The list goes on.  I really do spend a lot of time with my eyes glued to one screen or another.  I have somehow come to believe that things happen with screens--jobs, industry information, personal connections.
 
Today, my screenless (something yesterday precipitated it, I can't remember what) boy and I sat together in the apartment on a rainy day.  A  home full of games and crafts and possibilities, but what to do?
 
I often like his screenless days--not only is it quieter, those days tend to produce interesting artwork or a cleaned up kitchen.  He's got energy that has to go somewhere.  Today, though, I was a blank, and while we did settle on Monopoly and baking cookies and wrapping presents, I found myself drifting back to my iPod, as if refusing to be screenless, just because he was. 

But what was going to happen today on a screen?  No one was going to hire me on a Sunday.  Most of my friends, Facebook and otherwise, would be holiday shopping or holiday partying or both.  Not a thing that couldn't wait until Monday (except, I guess, writing this blog), but my iPod was attached to my arm anyway, with me never fully committing to any of my son's non-screen activities.

So while I will continue to use "no screens" as a punishment when necessary, and I will try to limit his daily screen time, I imagine I will be hearing his comeback in my head for a while.  And maybe I'll have a little more understanding when he wants "just one more game."