Ya Gotta Be Kidding!!

As a mom, I sometimes find myself in situations that I never dreamed would be part of living with children.  When I was younger and even when I was married but didn't yet have children, I would imagine what it would be like to have my own children.  You probably did it too.  We imagined the children being clean, well-dressed, polite, respectful, and of course all the siblings would get along with each other nicely.  Even after I had been a mom for just a short time, I realized that those dreams were a little bit, perhaps, idealistic.  (In other words, they were just plain wrong!!) 

This morning was one of those times that I was involved in a situation with the kids that just made me laugh because it was so ridiculous!!  (I figure I might as well laugh about these goofy situations instead of cry over them.  After all, I can't be that bad a mom--can I?)  Here's what happened:

Two of my children were discussing how much time they get for electronics each day.  I won't mention which two so that they can remain anonymous, but my oldest child is autistic and totally non-verbal if that helps you narrow down the possibilities any (for those of you who know me).  :)  At our house "electronics time" includes playing video games, playing games on my smart phone, playing on the computer, watching tv, etc.  If it has a battery and/or has to be plugged in to an electrical outlet--it counts.  Well, I don't count listening to the radio or to CDs since the kids aren't glued to those and can do other activities at the same time.  Everything else counts, though. 

Anyway, two of my children were discussing how much electronics time they get, and one was mentioning that he thought I limit his electronics time too much.  At that very moment, the two parakeets that we have as pets began squawking and making lots of racket.  The child whose electronics time is limited to an unreasonable degree (haha) looked at me and said, "See--even the birds agree that you are being unreasonable about it."  Then his sibling looked at him and said, "Only your bird agrees with you!  Mine thinks your electronics time is just fine!"  (Just in case you're wondering, the children all have the same amount of electronics time each day.)

As I listened to their conversation, I normally would have been unhappy with them for arguing, but in this case I just laughed out loud.  The kids both stopped arguing and looked at me like I was crazy.  I then explained to them that I couldn't believe I was listening to two of my children argue about the opinions of their pet parakeets!!  Oh.  My.  Gracious!! 

I'm not sure if they stopped arguing because they realized how silly they sounded or if they were more worried for my sanity.  In any case, though, they did stop arguing, so I was happy.  Ah the joys of motherhood!! 

So, how much time do you think is reasonable for kids to do electronics in a day?  One hour?  Two hours?  More?  We try to keep it to about 2 hours.  Sometimes on weekends they may do more than that--especially in the winter when they can't go outside as much. 

I'd also love to hear about one of your "I can't believe this is part of raising kids" moments if you'd like to share one.  Don't worry.  I will just laugh with you.  :)