If you are the type of person that likes things tidy, I suppose there is something subconsciously reassuring about sticking the kids in front of the TV. You know its not good for them, but while they're sitting on their buts, they're not running around the house making a mess. And trust me, kids are way faster at making the messes, than we adults are at cleaning them up.
I on the other hand, am not one for which organization and neatness are a high priority. (Just ask anyone around me.) So the kids and I have been having a great time these last couple of evenings.
Within minutes of playing last night, my three boys had organized the living room table, a left over box from a chair, blankets and pillows, and some giant cardboard tubes, into the most interesting collection of traps and travels for their marble collection; and they proceeded to spend hours inventing new games and spreading marbles throughout the house. Of course my ex-wife had a fit when she came home later that night; but I think the kids expanded their brains more in those few hours than they had in the last week.
For the first time--in what may months, or even years--I am all caught up on ebay. No pending auctions, no items waiting to be paid for or shipped. Nothing gone back to the seller waiting for a refund. Its all quiet.
Its not that I don't have anything I could buy. I'm just sort of taking a break right now, trying to catch my breath with everything else going on. Also saving up my money, because its the time of year when I have a lot of extra expenses (like annual insurance & property tax), and also some other stuff in my life has generated enormous bills.
I'm also in flux on metalworking, which was a big area for equipment purchase over the last couple of years. I teach at a rented shop, which is rented from the local high school for use by the Community College at night; but there's a new high school shop teacher, so we're still in the middle of a stare down contest.
So between the fact that I have no time, I have no money, and I have no place to put new purchases, a slow down does seem to make sense. Hmmm, but that Rohde & Schwarz portable spectrum analyzer does look nice ...
