There was this time a few weeks ago, when I cancelled cable or the summer - That’s one’s easy, right? Getting rid of cable is child’s play, after all - we do it every year as soon as the warm weather hits.
This year, I got a little cocky.

Let’s take it one step further. I decided that I was going to cancel Netflix too. It was going to be a screen free summer, and it was going to be epic. There was going to be rainbows, and butterflies and all that magical creativity that happens when you don’t have television or Netflix to watch.

Then, I realized something.

Summer is coming - and that means the kids are going to be home, and I’m still going to have to find time to keep the house organized, to keep it tidy, to cross things off of my to do list and to work. There are going to be days, like today, where an overtired four-year-old from a weekend full of adventure needs some ‘down time’ that I don’t want to have to micro-manage.

Netflix is for those rainy days, those afternoons where you’ve spent hours outside and the kids need a break from the sun. It’s for the times when I want a break, and banish the kids upstairs to watch those ridiculously annoying television shows, so I don’t have to listen to them.

Put Netflix on hold, I said.
It will be great, a screen free summer, I said.
NOPE.

Netflix is high up there on the list along with trips to the playground with shade so I can work while the kids play, stealing away for a two hour pedicure and virgin mojitos, for summer break parent survival.

Don’t worry Netflix, you’re safe for another summer. And don’t worry sanity, you’re safe too.

Disclosure: I’m a member of the streamteam, that comes with special perks. All opinions are my own.