Low Tech Parental Controls: Auto-Shut Off for Wii

I begin with the disclaimer that this will only work with young children or those who won't question how things work the way they do, or rule followers.

In the interest of encouraging Ethan to be a little more independent and allowing him more access to the computer, I recently set up parental controls on my computer (the ones that came with Windows Vista.) In doing so I discovered that I could set the hours during which Ethan's user account is allowed to use the computer. No more fighting with him to get off of Webkinz World and come eat dinner at 7. Now the computer shuts him off at 7 and he comes downstairs on his own.... WOW what a change it made in my evenings!!!

If only the Wii had a parental control like that -- I checked, it doesn't.

Then today the clouds parted, angels sang, and I had an inspiration. I went to Wall-mart and bought one of those auto-timers you use to automatically turn on and off your lights or TV in your house when you are on vacations... ($4) I plugged it into the power strip, set it to turn on at 7 AM and shut off at 7 PM then I plugged the Wii into it. Now it will automatically shut off the power going to the Wii machine at 7 PM. I set the clock on the DVD player so Ethan can plan ahead and save his game prior to shut off.

If we want to play a family game after 7 we can just plug the Wii into one of the other slots on the power strip.

It probably wouldn't work with older kids, but it will work for my child - he challenges a lot of things... but if you tell him the machine is programmed to shut of by itself, and then it does... He doesn't question technology. I can't believe the solution was so simple and it took me so long to figure it out!

Wii Fit Accountability '09

02/06/09 Friday- headache and TIRED, today still managed 10 minutes on Stationary Bike.
02/05/09 Thursday - 15 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
02/04/09 Wednesday - Did Wii Hula Hoop and Step Aerobics and some strength training.
02/03/09 Tuesday - Ran out of time, today, but I want this to be a daily habit. So I did Wii Hula Hoop and Step Aerobics.
02/02/09 Monday 15 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
Stationary Bike while dinner cooked 15 minutes while I listened to the latest podcast from thefringepodcast.

Wii Fit Accountability

02/02/09 Monday 15 minutes of Wii Fit, today. Stationary Bike while dinner cooked 15 minutes while I listened to the latest podcast from thefringepodcast.
12/08/08 Monday 30 minutes of Wii Fit, today. I got Ethan to do 30 minutes too.
09/02/08 Tue. 30 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
*Today I achieved 10 hours of total Wii Fit credit and a GOLD bank to track my minutes*
08/27/08 Thur. 11 minutes of Wii Fit, today. I concentrated on balance, today.
08/27/08 Wed. 30 minutes of Wii Fit, today. I did all 15 yoga exercises.
08/26/08 Tue. 9 minutes of Wii Fit, today. *I'm down over 3 lbs since last Monday.
08/24/08 Sun. 36 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
08/22/08 Fri. 30 minutes of Wii Fit, today. *I'm down 2 lbs since Monday.

Raining Cats and Dogs

It's raining cats and dogs at the moment.

My 9 year old is bummed because he wanted to go swimming and Wishbone is hyperventilating in her kennel. Thunder FREAKS our California native canine.

For myself, I love the weather. In California we didn't HAVE weather. Yes it was beautiful but every day the same is so... SAME. I love the Texas weather variety. Even after 7 years of living here it still gives me satisfaction. Of course it helps that by dinnertime it's a pretty safe bet that we'll have sunny skies and be back out in the pool. Floating under giant, white, puffy clouds in a big Texas sky.

So for right now I'll enjoy nature's fireworks and the rumble and crack that come with them. I watch the pool floats go skittering across the grass in front of the wind and marvel at how the rain can come sideways at the windows looking just like someone is standing out there spraying them with the garden hose. Soon the rain will lessen and the cardinals will be back to the feeder. As the storm dissipates and a power outage becomes less likely I hear the whirr of the Wii booting up.

How I love having WEATHER