The answer is: whatever I want! I have allowed television and stupid computer games to monopolize far too much of my time. We are heading in to tax season, so the months ahead are going to be more - dare I say it? what the heck - taxing for me than usual. I had been feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it, and the aftermath of the holidays didn’t help.

I called my sister yesterday while on my way to work because she is always great at offering me some encouragement and happy thoughts. One of her suggestions was to take just 5 minutes a day to chip away at the clutter in my house.

My first reaction was to make excuses - how on earth could I find 5 minutes? I’m so busy and exhausted by the end of the day! But saying that out loud helped me to realize how ridiculous I sounded. To sum up our conversation, we came to the conclusion that I spend too much time watching television and playing computer games. It doesn’t start out that way, but once I start I just have a really hard time stopping.

So it’s cold turkey for me. No TV, video or computer games until April 15. It’s been 24 hours and so far I am loving it! Last night we took the Christmas tree down (finally), I played with the kids, balanced the checkbook, and snuggled with my son while he watched Curious George. It was tough to resist the urge to turn on the TV after the kids were in bed or get on Facebook and play stupid Zuma, but I was successful at resisting. It was just after 9:00 pm when I realized I was feeling sleepy. What to do? Could it really be bedtime for Momma already? Yes, in fact it was. I headed to bed and was fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I did explain to my son that I was giving up TV for awhile and today he has not asked me once to watch TV with him. Instead, we have been finding other activities. This morning I got up with the kids and we made oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we played a game of Chutes & Ladders and then played Power Rangers for awhile. Without the distraction of the television, we are able to spend real quality time with each other. It is wonderful.

My sister made the same commitment to cut out television, and I am excited to see the effects it has on each of our lives. I think we are going to have some good stories to tell!