Recently my eight year old started talking like some morphed cartoon character, you know the ones with the big heads and the chic outfits that can fly. I have always been a “witch” when it came to what she was viewing and there actually was a time when I would preveiw all of the shows she was going to watch but somewhere I slipped up. When she announced after her eighth birthday that she was ready to drive the car, I decided to shut the TV. Not just for the day but possibly for good. I figured a week would be a good test.

We never really watch much TV and last Monday it seemed like a great idea! And by the following Wednesday it was. Then came Sunday.

Sunday was one of those day, for everyone. I knew it wasn’t going to start well when I had a very early call and I couldn’t find a thing to wear. You know when you walk into your closet and half of what you own ends up on the floor because you either a) haven’t kept your new year’s resolution to get to the gym three times a week or b) the weather is getting warmer and that extra large fisherman’s sweater will make it feel like mid day in the desert. So needless to say I just put one more thing on my very long ‘to-do’ list. By Sunday evening I thought the house was going to cave in, messy closet and all.

Later that evening the conversation went something like this:
“But, but it is Sunday!”
A tissue is passed, “Here, wipe your tears.”
Almost sobbing, “I just don’t understand! Pleeeeeeease! I just need an hour. An hour won’t hurt!”
“No. A deal is a deal.”
“Oh noooooooooooo!!!” More tears and another tissue is passed.
“It will be good for you, it has been good for all of us.”
And then, more sobbing, “Oh, but it’s Sunday and Sunday is a day of rest. And, and I can rest while I watch TV. Oh pleeeeease.”
A hug is exchanged, “There, there, no more

tears. We can play a game or why not just go to bed early, you sound tired.”
More tears, “I don’t WANT to go to bed. I WANT to watch TV.”
She pulls another tissue out of the box hands it to me and say, “But Mom, it was your idea. No more crying, ok?”

She was right, as small as she is she had me. I didn’t watch TV that night, but I didn’t clean my closet either.