Groundation

Last Sunday I grounded all of my children. They hadn't been running around like maniacs. They weren't fighting with one another. They hadn't taken my very cool minivan for a joyride. What did they do? Well, the question is: what didn't they do?

Their chores. For a very long time.

My house was a disaster, and I was fried. I had truly had it. (That's a funny sentence to look at :) ) So, I grounded them.

They were grounded from all outside activities excepting school and church, but including YW and Scouts. They got grounded from the television and anything to do with that medium. They got grounded from the computer and all computer related games, including handhelds.

Their chores got done on Monday immediately following school.

I lifted the grounding on outside activities and television, but being grounded from the computer games stuck. I want them to have a week where they have to think of other things to do. It's too easy for them to come home from school, pick up a gameboy and spend the rest of the afternoon staring at that tiny screen. I want them to run and play and read and discover and do things that require imagination.

Hmmm.

Joshua calls being grounded "groundation". That's pretty imaginative.