Mothering Mischief

If you haven’t figured out by now, I practice Mothering Mischief on a regular basis.

As I shared last week in a guest post on Mothering From Scratch, tapping into that mischievous and creative side of mothering just works for me.

Last week, one of my boys had earned himself a television free day or two.

(not completely tv free, he could still watch pink tv)

The crime had involved his growing obsession with a certain television show and my unwillingness to drop everything and instantly help him get his “fix.”

So the ban was appropriate. It fit the crime.

Screen Bans

In my house, screen bans come in several flavors.

Def Con 1: You can still watch TV in the car and play limited video games. If you’re lucky, you might squeeze in some “pink tv” time. (Alternately, I ban video games and still allow television. It depends on the situation.)
Def Con 2: Your only screen time is a 30-minute snuggle while watching “pink tv” before bed.
Def Con 3: The only thing you’re watching is the countdown on the microwave.

We were at Def Con 1 because I had my hands full of with a sick child (the other one) and needed somewhere to go if the boy’s attitude continued.

So he was entitled to “pink tv.”

screen bans and pink tv

Pink TV

Pink television means that mommy gets to watch mommy shows. If you don’t like them, you can go read a book.

Normally, I stick to shows that the boys can tolerate. Cooking shows go over relatively well, as do most science and travel shows.

But when I’d really rather that the kids read a book, I get a bit mischievous.

Pink Cartoons

I find myself suddenly wanting to watch all the Tinkerbelle and Barbie movies.

Oh my word! You should see my boys scatter when I do that. They can’t get out of the room fast enough.

They’re afraid that some magic pink sparkly cootie dust is going to fly out of the television screen. (that part might not be true, I’ve never asked them. But you get the picture, right?)

Pink Movies

When I think they need to sleep, I’ve been known to have a sudden desire to watch an old musical. There’s one in particular that’s famous for putting them to sleep every time they watch it.

(Probably because I used to sing the songs from it to them as they drifted off to sleep as infants.)

My husband isn’t a big fan of pink cartoon movies or old musicals (at least not that one), so when he’s home I have to change my strategy.

I tried the obvious stuff – gossip shows, romantic comedies, and the like. He either gets into watching them or manages to ignore them.

But I’ve discovered that a good marathon of public television crafting shows works every time.