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We are so enjoying the book, The Wright Brothers and Their Sister, in Bigger Hearts right now. We were reading about their childhood and how they spent evenings as a family - the brothers working on woodworking and the whole family reading about current events and discussing things. My ds just turned 9 and really wanted a Wii for his bday last week. My dh and I have decided not to get a gaming system for several reasons. We did not want him to have that temptation in front of him all the time so that he would not use his time wisely and we would always have to be saying "no" to him if he wanted to play it all the time, etc. We have seen too many friends whose sons struggle with wanting to play video games all the time. (Please realize that this is a very personal decision that we have made and does not mean that we think it can't be done in the right way - there is nothing wrong in video game systems by themselves - it is just the temptation we knew it would be for our ds). We explained to this to him again and he was disappointed, but accepting.

Back to the Wright Bros. - after reading that chapter, I asked the kids if they thought the airplane would have been invented then if the Wrights had had an X-Box. My son said, "No way!" Later that day, he came to me and said, "Mom, I've decided that whenever I'm tempted to play computer this week, instead I'm going to go and learn something! Or do something to help you!" He is so inspired by that book. He has been playing with his Lego airplanes all week and, since I'm a pilot (in my past life ), we have been discussing the theory of flight and his many numerous questions about how airplanes work, etc. He truly is "learning something" rather than wasting his time. Oh, he also drew a sketch of the way HE would invent a lathe just like the Wright Bros. - I love it!

Thank you, once again, Carrie, for your oh-so-thoughtful selection of materials that really challenge and inspire the kids. It is such a relief to me that you have done all that work and all I have to do is trust you - which I do very much!

Wow Tiffini,

What a great testimony. Thanks for sharing.

That book was a favorite of our ds's last year too. It had a similar effect on him - he wanted to use his free time for learning something important. How precious that your ds made that connection between free time and learning! I had no idea you were a pilot before - I bet you are especially enjoying the talks you are having with your ds about this particular book. HOD makes it natural to bring up talks like the one you had about how to spend extra time, and when moms seize the moment and have those important talks, I believe it can change the course of our dc's lives.

In Christ,
Julie

Tiffini,

I'm so encouraged by your post! My boys had a similar reaction to that book and were inspired to create all sorts of flying devices in their free time. My hubby then bought the kiddos kites at the dollar store, and we had all sorts of wind speed and direction related trials too.

My husband and I have often discussed that great inventors had plenty of free time on their hands to explore and think. Time to be inspired by new ideas and entertain possibilities is such an important part of creativity!

Thanks for sharing!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you for your testimony of this book. We are looking forward to reading it next year!

WOW! I am looking even more forward to starting Bigger Hearts with my guys!

Thanks for sharing,

What a lovely testimony!!

In regards to not buying a game system, I totally understand your reasons, they are the same reasons we haven't bought one. The temptation to play video games rather than spend time together, read, and play real games with real interaction would be too great.

That is so cool - I can't wait to read it! PS - we don't have a Wii, either. Sometimes I feel like the only people on the planet who don't!

Just to make you feel better, we don't have a Wii or any video games either. It just happens to be our family's stance on it, after years of seeing how much it overtook the lives of my students that I was teaching in school. Often my students couldn't think of anything else to talk about or to write about. Having all boys, we've been especially mindful of this!

We actually don't have cable TV either. My hubby got rid of cable one summer, and we were amazed at how much more we were able to accomplish in the day-to-day, so we've never gone back. Now you know how I have time to write a guide each year!

Blessings,
Carrie