Rebuilding a Home

Creating something new is always good, but rebuilding something that was once great takes even more effort then you would ever know. 

So over the weekend I went back out to my in-laws which is a huge farm, and my kids love it out there. So much room to run around and different things to do unlike in the city where we live. They can walk over to the lake and fish, shoot off guns and bows. This time of year is great because my older two boys get to go hunting with their Pap and Great Uncle Gene. I think this is great because it helps then learn patience waiting for a deer and learning how to use the bow and gun correctly and always with parental supervision.

Now in the last four years the farm has gone down hill a bit, but that is bound to happen due to the age of not only Gram (now 83) and my in laws are both in their 50's so their age has slowed them down doing things. Since my kids love being out there so much, I have spoken to my wife and the in-laws that I will be helping out some more on some projects out there. I will also be having the kids help, its a big part of my wife's memories being out there and how it was when she was a girl, and I want my kids to have some of the same memories.

Now being the gamer I am, I have decided to look at things from a different point of view. Knowing the funds available and the items around the place for resources we can create not only a farm that produces something to use but a place to re-use a lot of the items laying around. Yep, that's right folks time to use all those hours and hours of RTS (real time strategy) game play to my advantage. But it wont be just a simple lets try this and go, I will also be using my memory of standard business management to make sure we will not be wasting our time and money on things. I will be making plans and doing a lot of small testing of things here at my own home before I try to ramp anything up to help out there. My over all goal is to make life easier for my in-laws and to teach my kids something new; and you can apply what you learn in not only books, school but in video games too.
Some of the ideas I am looking into is recycling of the items out there, water storage, some basic house weatherization, and plant control around the house for Gram. Those weeds are taking over the yard and the colder months are a good time to remove their area before the next year.

Here is my starting list which you all will see updates on and a break down of how I did it:

1. Weatherization of house
2. Plant control
3. Water Storage
4. Recycling of Material around

Its a short list but I think it will be a good project for the boys and I this winter, not to mention they will be seeing a lot of their Gram with me being out there doing these things. Creating a home is easy, but rebuilding one that has been left out in the cold brings more memories then ever.

Kids and Game time

How much time is too much time in gaming for kids?

I know many parents run into this question in today's world. There are tons of web pages out there talking about this. I myself has asked this question on my Twitter feed this past week and was not shocked on what was said back to me. Seems that people with kids under the age of 10 only give their kids only about 2 hours of screen time for gaming. I myself am in this boat during the warmer days of the year. Since I live in the Northeast we only get about eight good months of warm weather, during the fall and winter I will allow my younger kids about an other hour of screen time but it has to be a creative game, not your point click, or a family game in which they are playing with others.
With reading all these sites and talking to people here is the break down I have gathered.

1 - 3 years old about 30 minutes a day
4 - 7 years old about 1 hour a day
8 - 11 years old about 2 hours a day
12 and older seems to be 2 hours or more depending on school work.

Now you will notice that at 12 I mentioned school work. My older son is now 11 and I do agree that two hours is a good amount, but if he focuses on his school work and gets above grades I don't mind giving him some extra time in game. You all can see that I am a huge believer of hard work should be rewarded. That is why when he does really well at his school work or chores he gets more time. I do a lot of work not only at my job, but on YouTube, Twitch, and here. I might not be the best at all of these, but its trying something new that shows I am working for something new down the road.
This all ties into how much time we let our kids play games, yes games are good to relax and have kids work on different parts of their mind. But too much screen time and its a waste.

How do you all feel about screen time for kids, or even your selfs? Is too much a waste?