Survival Technique or Technology overload? You decide.

As Erin posted earlier, J has come home from school.  My kids are done spending a night or 2 at Grandma's, so we now officially have all 6 ( maybe even 7 or 8 if a friend or 2 comes over) kids in the house at the same time, with not even school to distract them.  The past few days I have taken stock of what our kids do to "waste" time and I have come to mainly ONE conclusion....technology.

Oh come on, how many electronic distractions can one household contain???  you ask. 

In this house we have 2 TVs, one with DVR (I know, not too bad, but wait I am just getting started). Oops, make that 3 TVs. I forgot about the TV in the exercise room, nobody really goes in there, that one has a DVR too.  4 gaming systems.  Only one desktop computer, but there are 6 laptops, some come and go as menfolk go to work and back, but most stay right here in this house getting passed around from person to person, occasionally a new one comes in when a friend comes over to "play".  Counting the handheld game systems and mobile phones would be pointless as there is just no way to keep track of them.  And today I took a couple of kids to see a movie because they were bored.

Of course we have plenty of other things to do or play with inside and lots of warm snow clothes for them to wear so they could go outside.  But those are not the things they seem to find to do or play with.  Why?  That's a interesting question, isn't it?  Maybe they chose electronics because we do..us adults are either on a computer or watching TV, but really no where near as much as the kids these last few days. And I do catch an adult actually reading a newspaper, magazine or even a book, from time to time.  I think the kids choose technology because it is easier.  It is easier to sit down in front of a monitor than get a game, toy , or project out that you have to clean up when you are done.  It is easier than suiting up to head outside and do anything slightly physical.  It is easier than thinking of anything else.

Is all this technology use a bad thing?  That is what I am trying to figure out.  I think maybe not all bad, but certainly not all that good either.  At least we know it will come to an end, either because school will start back up or because the single wireless connection will protest it's abuse. ;)

Cara