What day it is and time it is?

As I've said already I have five kids. I have one particular kid who several times a day asks me "what day it is and what time it is?" ( he's 4)

And I always ask him WHY he wants to know...... he often tells me that it helps him keep track of his day. KEEP TRACK OF HIS DAY??? He is FOUR!

I don't even remember 4, other than a boy in preschool taught me how to pretend to eat my food by chewing on my tongue, and actually put the food in a plant behind us. And if you blew on your arm you could make fart noises.... keep track of my day? I never knew what day of the week it was!

So now I have kids who have 'agendas' and watches, with scheduled playdates, and due dates for things. They ARE trying to keep track of their day, their week, their month. What have we done to them? In an effort to get ourselves more organized and efficient we've scheduled our kids in... "got a soccer game little Johnny?, let me just pencil that in for 6 o'clock. Better yet, let me just check with my secretary."

OMG what happened to the days when kids would ride their bikes and 'end up' at a park, or 'call on' their friends, " Can Susie come out and play?"

What happened to hide and go seek in the dark after supper? or playing army in the back yard?

Us parents blame stuff on TV and playstations, but really we're the ones to blame. When was the last time YOU played Hide and Go Seek with your kids? When was the last time you pulled your self away from your PC or laptop to go kick around a soccer ball?

Everything is "later" or "in a minute", or "how about tomorrow?" If we don't have a bit of spontaneity in our lives how can we expect our kids to????

I'm not saying throw away your Dayplanner or your Blackberry, I'm just saying take some time to do away with time.