Mom versus TV

Neighbor girls Frannie and Georgia came over to play today. I have a rule - no tv when friends are over. Not because I'm opposed to tv, but I'd rather save it for when I need Lily to be occupied and there are no other kids around.

The girls: Can we watch TV?
Deb: No. Play with each other.
The girls: We don't know what to do.
Deb: Figure something out.
The girls: There's nothing to do.
Deb: You can help me clean.
The girls: That's boring!
Deb: Play with something in Lily's room.
The girls: Everything's boring there!
Deb: Use your imaginations.
The girls: We're bored!! We want to watch tv!!
Deb: You'd better stop asking to watch tv and find yourselves a project, or I'm taking Frannie and Georgia home.
The girls: Harumph.

Three minutes later, they were making a bow and arrows out of sticks, string, and milkweed pods. "See?" I said. "You don't need a tv, you just need your imagination." Then, Michael told me the idea came to Lily yesterday, while she was home sick from school and watching Man vs. Nature ... on tv.

Frannie.

Milkweed pod arrow