Week 3 in review

This week was more of a roller coaster ride than any other so far.
Last weekend we had dinner with another family. In the past I usually am stressed out about ds behavior. He is so excited about being with other kids that he has a hard time self regulating and relating to them. He gets very physical where I find him hugging or rough housing too much. When left on their own, they usually start off play fighting which evolves into a brawl. So needless to say I am always on edge making sure that no one gets hurt and reminding ds to calm down. He also has a hard time following the dialogue. When we leave, I usually feel sad or worn out about refereeing the entire night.
This time was a little different. Ds was calmer; he got a little fixated on a dinosaur book then he started to play. They played some action star wars games with toys and he was right there with the dialogue (no play fighting/wrestling). They also spied on the girls. He seemed to respect his friend's personal space too. For the first time ever, I left feeling great.
We see that he is playing with his little sister differently too. Usually ds is running around in his imaginary world and his little sister running after him, begging for him to play with her. Or if he played with her, it was a game of chase and tackle. A few times this week he was interacting, playing with his ls. It was nice to see.
Ds has for the most part kept up with the homework exercises. A couple times this week, his body seemed to have forgotten how to do sit ups. He was frustrated but I helped him move on. He was also a little off with his lessons. That frustrated me more than him; ds reminded me how to bounce back.
In homeschooling this week, he had his first eurythmy class and started the evaluation process with the math tutor.
With this week being the end of our language art block, I used a couple of animal stories from Puerto Rico. He was already familiar with the stories and we had a lot of fun acting them out. Here's his MLB drawing: (photo to come).
In waldorf education, be it at a school or homeschool, it is highly recommended to have no tv/screen time. Our family has been one that have put on the tv for our kids from the beginning. I know, bad parents. One of the previous day care had a movie on daily in the summer. Even when we limited it, some of the babysitters would undermine us and put on the tube, just so they could ds would be calmer.
Well we've come a long way. After having the tv on almost every day, the tv was on only 3 days a week: Friday night movie night, Saturday & Sunday mornings two 1/2 hour shows. And maybe a nature show in the evening no more than one hour long. With the help of Netflix, MOD and itunes, we cut out the commercials that the regular programs are bombarded with. It was truly amazing how much of a consumer ds became watching commercials. It was not only "wow mom. I want that", but also "you should get that for yourself". It was also very disturbing how much he talked about shows/movies even when we limited it to less than 6 hours/week.
We have officially made it to the next step; NO TELEVISION AT ALL. This will be a true test to our endurance and creativity. OK, OK and a little bribery doesn't hurt either. So I've planned out that every Friday, on our way back home from bb, we will stop by the book store and each child can pick out a book. I told ds that we will continue this new treat if he doesn't complain/ask about the tv all week long.
I believe that the rehabilitation from the television will definitely help him; I am curious to see what comes out of it. Thankfully his love for books and music will help ease the pain a little.