It's that Time...

Tomorrow is the 1st day of our new school year. I'm excited, nervous, and full of anticipation of all that's to come. We are starting school early again this year because we'll need to take time off mid-school-year for the arrival of the new baby (same reason as last year:) in January! Nathan and Evelyn are excited to get started! Nate says he is excited to be a 4th grader, is planning to work hard to get good grades, and enjoys school except for math. Evelyn (1st grade) is just giddy about the whole idea of school...so cute! Emma (2nd grade), on the other hand, is not. She really wishes we could wait to start, but I know that when January comes and we get to take a good long break she will no longer be wishing we had waited. :) Molly doesn't know if she's excited or not (it depends on the feelings of whoever she happens to be sitting by at the time) , but life will change for her some too. No more playing all over the house - she'll be contained to the school/family room with the rest of us (at least for the most part...I might allow some unsupervised play in her room for short periods). Maggie's life won't change a whole lot. Naptime will be more consistent now, but she'll still be with me most of the time so I think she'll be pretty content with our school schedule. :)  So tomorrow it's back to early & crazy mornings...no more lazy mornings and leisurely breakfasts (if you can consider eating cereal a leisurely activity:). I don't feel mentally prepared for this challenge, but God doesn't always equip us before the journey - sometimes He equips us during the journey. So I guess I'll just say "BRING IT"! But don't let the kids hear that...they might think I need an extra challenge or as Brett might say "a character-building experience". :)

Ok, so that is what is going on in the Curry house.  Now...here is what is on my heart....   I am sick to death of screens (I type this as I stare at my computer...uh....screen). All sorts of screens - tv screens, computer screens, projector screens, smart phone screens, movie screens.We are being bombarded with technology. It's everywhere! Everywhere you look there is a screen. At the grocery store, in the restaurant, at the mall, apparently at gas pumps on the west coast, in almost every room in our house. They are used in pretty much every type of classroom & for every age. I'm not against technology. I don't plan to move to Amish country (although simplicity is very appealing to me). I am not throwing out our tv or computer. I'm not getting rid of my smart phone. But there must be a better balance. We limit the use of the tv/video games/computer games in our home to only a little bit of time each week, but I feel like we need to do more. This topic has been on my heart for a while, but this morning I read an article called "Modern Stress, Technology, and Parenting". It was very interesting. It talked about the effect that technology is having on our children's (and our) brains. The constant use of technology is removing our ability to contemplate and meditate therefore taking away our ability to truly worship. How scary is that?!?! It went much more in-depth, but technology has taken away my ability to remember anything (or maybe that's my children) so I can't remember much else...just a sense of alarm. Then on the way to church this morning I heard a radio interview discussing the benefits (to ourselves, our community, & our family) of not being 'plugged-in' all the time. Last night Brett & I were having a discussion about children & entertainment. I know that children remember things best when they learn it in a fun way. But where do you draw the line? I'm concerned that they/we are being so 'trained' to be entertained that when the teaching method is no longer super entertaining then we lose interest...fast. So we are talking about ways to change that in our home. Not sure how to do that...  Maybe for starters I should get off the computer. :)

Anyway, I need to go to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow. Pray for us if you think about it...  :)

Anywa