I Do Bad Things When My Children Are Sleeping

This post is part of The Peaceful Housewife's Natural Parenting Blog Party.

First of all, when my children go to bed or take a nap, I watch TV. This is bad because I normally limit their television viewing to less than 2 hours every day and most days they do not watch TV at all. However, as soon as they are in bed for sure, I pop on that set and let my brain soften, muscles relax and eyes gloss over. Then I turn on my laptop and slip into full vegetative mode.

Next, I eat things that I will not normally eat in front of my children, like potato chips or ice cream. Sometimes I eat a whole ‘second dinner.’ And where do I eat this food, you ask? I eat it in front of the television, while I’m on my laptop! Sometimes I drink juice or iced tea and when I’m really, really bad, I drink soda! Are you gasping yet? I am! Especially since I still consider myself to be a natural parent.

What’s wrong with this picture? Well, very simply, I have habits that I have maintained for most of my life and though I have worked to remove them, some are more difficult than others. I still like to watch TV every now and then, especially at night because it helps me unwind. I’m also slightly attached to my computer, mainly because it is very often the sole source of intellectual communication that I have. At the very least, I try to maintain composure around my children to prevent bad habits from forming in them.

The only reason that I have curtailed my own screen time and changed my eating habits is because of them. I was always fairly conscious about my nutritional intake, but I did not eat nearly as many organic items as I do now. Plus, I also forced myself to eat things I never used to like (beans) because I knew they were good for me and I wanted my children to grow up familiar with them. As far as screen time is concerned, I’ve actually grown to dislike having the TV on all the time because it actually makes me antsy after a while, not to mention the fact that there is hardly anything worth watching on it anyway.

While my children have had a very positive influence on my life, I still have some things I need to iron out in order to be a better role model. I figure I have quite a bit of time, though, since they do still take naps *crossing fingers* and it will be a number of years before they go to bed closer to the time I head off to sleep. And if I never change (which I doubt), they will simply have to live with the fact that I’m not perfect, something I’m sure they know anyway.