Mommy and Daddy had a bit of a late night last night. And yes, it’s true, cocktails may have been involved. Consequently, I was moving a little slowly this morning (not so much because of a hangover, but because now that I’m on the other side of the “mid-forty” mark, any drink at all renders me unable to sleep after about 3AM. It sucks. What was the point of a misspent youth learning to drink all and sundry under the table if now, after 1 G&T, all I want to do is go to sleep but then once I’m in bed I can’t sleep? )

Anyway. This morning. The boys had found some website with free online games and after breakfast, they each went to a computer and began playing. Generally speaking we have a “one hour” rule for screen time, but this morning, I just couldn’t be bothered.

They played together beautifully for about two hours, sometimes switching computers to see what the other was doing, sometimes collaborating on one computer to strategize about how to beat a particular game. With the exception of exclaiming at the game, the apartment was quiet enough for me to read the paper.  Read the actual articles, that is, not just skim the headlines.

Then I finished the paper and puttered around while the boys remained plugged into their electronic life support systems.  They were still quiet, focused with laser-like intent on their respective screens, until I asked them to stop for lunch.

Which is when all hell broke loose. The screaming and moaning and dire predictions that everything would be ruined because they were just about to win and how I was so mean and the world pretty much ended. Not sure if you noticed, but yeah, the world collapsed at about 12:09 today. 

So you know, I gotta wonder. What if I just abandoned all that crap about rules and boundaries and consistency and setting limits blah blah blah. What if chocolate became the basis for all meals, I stopped asking them to put away their toys, let them play the wii until their fingers started to bleed, didn’t ask them ever to leave the house or look up from a screen.

Really, would it be so bad? Just think about all the reading I could get done. I’d be conversant about world events. Hell, I could even learn how to drink again.

Hmm.