TV is the symptom, I am letting the kids watch more. I have always understood the easy allure of the TV, in one easy press of the button no more turmoil, noise, fighting, or household destruction. But it comes at a cost; it minimizes the expenditure of energy, bottles up free play, and smothers imagination.
I have allowed myself to succumb to the temptress. The TV viewing over the past week or two, while not quite skyrocketing, is higher than in previous periods. My basic optimism, patience, and general glass-half-full outlook is at a low. For the past few months I have found myself responding to the kids much more harsh, quick tempered, and less patiently than I am capable of.
And this comes at a cost, Galen does not behave as well after periods of TV viewing. He becomes more defiant, aggressive, and less controlled. All that physical and emotional energy get bottled up, pressure building. And when I finally break the hypnosis, it all comes out and a good remainder of the day is spent deprogramming. Liam, not so much. He isn't as constrained by the magic.
The cause? Stress. I love my job, but it has been far too long without a chance to decompress. Day in, day out, there are always the kids. There have been escapes; lunch here, dinner there. But the next morning or evening the responsibility is still there. Whatever worked over these past years is no longer effective, time for a recharge and new approach to life.
I know the temptress, she is seductive, powerful. But I know what she is, I will begun to resist, and that is not futile.
