Too much t.v. (screen time) = nighttime freakout fests

I've realized that time in front of the t.v., whether it be just watching a show or playing the Wii, results in my youngest child waking in the middle of the night, screaming and/or walking into my room hollering, "MOM!" I did a test one day and limited his Wii time to one hour. He stayed in bed that night and did not yell or scream or anything. Last night, he woke up and tried to come into my room and was yelling "MOM!" and he had no idea he was doing it. Sleepwalking. He had been in front of the t.v. most of the day.

Hubby decided this morning that both kids are not to play the Wii. I get to break the news to them when they ask if they can play it. Lucky me! They are on Spring break this week and hubby is in school (some sort of cruel joke, me thinks) and I work from home, so of course I'm the bad guy when the house isn't quiet as I do my technical work, and I ask the kids to hush up. My work is very detailed and if I put in a wrong character (keyboard/typing/HTML stuff), everything goes awry. I need to concentrate while working! The kids can play in their rooms or go outside. They can read or go to their friends' houses.

A few months ago, I decided to check the website for Singulair (an asthma medication) and right on the front page was a notice regarding side effects. Guess what one was? Night terrors and sleepwalking! After talking with hubby, we immediately ceased giving Singulair to K. He'd been sleepwalking for years and we didn't put two and two together. His screaming and sleepwalking stopped. Now the trigger is too much screen time.

Haven't you heard the warning - children should have no more than two hours of screen time a day. It keeps their developing brains from the right kind of stimuli. They veg out in front of the thing and become fat and lazy. I don't want that to happen to my kids - do you?? Time to lay down the law with them. They can do something else besides watch t.v. and/or play video games forever.