Experiment gone right!

This is the end of week 1. It should be the end of like, week 3, but I broke and we had to start over. Maxwell has always been happy to do his own thing. He doesn't ask for a lot of attention, he could play elsewhere in the house for long periods of time (in which he probably never thinks of me) and at some point I have to go looking for him just to make sure he's still alive. He also loves DVDs. Not necessarily watching them, but more of an I-put-the-dvd-in, I-take-the-dvd-out every 5 minutes, and he wants to carry the DVD (w/o case) with him everywhere he goes. This hasn't been working out very well for anyone. Especially the poor dvds. So we started "putting our foot down" and were constantly telling (scolding might be a better word) him that he couldn't touch the dvds, even though that is the one thing he wanted to do most. Then he would scream and cry and jump up and down - and he wouldn't pause for anything. However, it was amusing at first how he would instantly stop and smile if you handed him the dvd! One day I got so frustrated, I put him in his crib, gathered up all the dvds and threw (well, gently placed them in a box, but I wanted to throw them) into the basement. Maxwell did not appreciate this, but reacted with surprising calm when I showed him that there were no more DVDs. I felt bad, so I checked out some Signing Time DVDs from the library a week later. Yes, I am an idiot. Last week I had Brent gather them up and take them back. We haven't watched a dvd in a week.

All I can say is: Believe them when they tell you that tv is bad for children. I now have my own evidence. It's like I have a new child or something! Granted, he does require more attention (he tends to get into things he's not supposed to - like all the time) and now he and Blake are always teasing each other and it isn't pretty, but............Maxwell uses at least 100 words more per day now when he communicates (which is such an improvement from his limited vocabulary of movie titles and screaming and crying and jumping up and down) and he has the cutest little personality that really comes alive now that I have allowed him an opportunity to be a normal 2.5 year old kid! He is so cute and cuddly with me (he wasn't interested before) and he has just really come alive this past week. It makes me feel bad that I didn't do something about this sooner, or see the reality of what I was doing, sooner, but I am happy now. One night at dinner, I pointed out that this is Maxwell after he's gone without dvds for an entire day. Everyone could see the difference. The next night, my brother Morgan was playing with Maxwell (never happened before) and said, "Erin, I definitely like this Maxwell better." Oops. I have done a poor job of parenting. I am now making amends. Learn from my experiences, please.