We have a problem with our television.

When I was a small child… I mean a really, really, really small child (like 18 months old) we had a not so good babysitter. Let’s be honest, she was horrible. She would take us to bars, if we went through a drive thru she would get her own children food but not us, and she even dropped me down a flight of concrete stairs. My sister and I thought that the way she treated us was normal, so it never occurred to us to tell our parents. Some of my more vivid memories of our times with her were when she would watch horror movies (like Halloween) when we were in the room. I’m not sure if she thought we were too young to understand or if she was just that negligent, but we were terrified.

When we finally told our mom years later she was mortified! Thankfully we had moved and never saw her again.

But back to our TV. As a result of those early experiences I have always been very guarded about what is playing on the tv when the kids are in the room. I rarely let them watch films that either Tim or I haven’t seen before, and if they are watching one we are sitting there with them. Subsequently my children have come under the misguided impression that the tv only plays kids shows and they get very upset when we turn on anything for us.

I usually have grand intentions to watch something after the kids are in bed, but more often than not by the time the kids go down for bed I am too tired to watch tv and just end up blogging and then going straight to bed. I have a bookshelf of movies I still need to go through!

However I just got the first two seasons of When Calls The Heart on DVD for Christmas. (Before you judge, I know it is a very cheesy show, but somehow two episodes into season one and I was hooked! Darn my love of period pieces!!) Thankfully you can’t get much tamer than this show, so my poor kids are about to learn that the tv does not revolve around them and *gasp* they can entertain themselves while mommy watches her show! I think its only fair considering how many times I have sat through Meet the Numbers or Springtime with Roo. 

On a less sedentary note, today was beautiful!! After some playing with the cousins this morning, and a much needed nap this afternoon, we got the chance to go for a walk. It has literally been months since we have been to the gazebo park. Seriously, the last time we went was on Baby E’s birthday which was November 6th so we were long overdue. Both the big kids got remote controlled cars for Christmas so they wanted to take them along to play with them. I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air and the chance to stretch my legs.

I love warmer winter days that still have just a touch of the frigid in the air, but the sunshine and daylight warm you enough to make you shrug off your coat and feel the cool air through your clothes. I love listening to the crunching and crackling of brown leaves beneath my feet and seeing the web of empty tree branches reaching toward the sky. I also love how noises sound clearer and travel further in winter.

I think if it wasn’t for the constant sicknesses, germs, and doctor visits, winter would be my favorite time of the year. In fact it was before I had kids, but then I had children and found myself living in a hotbed of runny noses, sore throats, and stomach bugs. Now I feel like most of winter I am just trying to keep my head above water, so today was an extra special day of warmth and calmness.