Stages

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

My kids are addicted to our direct tv cable, and I don’t know how to change that. At first I didn’t mind that they watched a lot of TV because it kept them out of my hair, but now it is starting to cause problems at school. My youngest is only seven, and he has already started lyingto me about homework assignments so that he can watch more TV. Now the teacher has to send me an email every day with a list of everything he needs to do so I can make sure he is telling me the truth. My oldest, who is 12 is also skimping on the schoolwork and getting lazier by the day. I am at my wit’s end with him because he is old enough to know better than this. I feel guilty because I created these monsters. My husband says I am too hard on myself and all kids go through these stages. I hope this is just a stage because I can’t deal with kids who don’t care about school and doing well. There is more to life than watching TV, and I am going to have to teach them that.