After a very disappointing parent's evening on ds's behalf (I had to go and hide in school toilets cos I was about to blub in front of teachers)and with only 6 months to go til dd's A levels (therefore a huge amount of work for her to get through), I was fed up of our main means of communication being me begging them to stop staring at the two screens in our living room and answer me when I spoke to them.
Facebook/the X Factor had all but taken over dd's life and ds was misbehaving in all his lessons except electronics (once a fortnight).
SO...I bit the bullet and did what I've been threatening to do for years. I was about to cut the plug off the tv but since it's a sealed unit I thought, for the future's sake, just take it out, and I wrapped it in gaffa tape.
I took the internet lead out of the PC and hid it.
So, no Simon Cowell, no cooking progammes, reality shows and no virtual networking in our lives.
It'll be three weeks tomorrow and life has changed a lot.
The kids come home from school and talk to me instead of switching the screens on. Dd does her homework on paper in front of the fire. Ds has got into listening to Bob Dylan and is allowed the internet lead back to look up electronics ideas on youtube, for maybe an hour a day or less.
We all sit together and seem to have more time.
I'm quite happy to carry on like this until those A levels are in the can!
Highly recommended for anyone else with teenagers - I should have done it years ago.