Computers! Argh!

I am rather upset by how much time HL spends on the computer. No, I take that back- it's not necessarily the time he spends on the computer, because we do limit him. The thing that upsets me is that, since getting into the high stimulation of computer games, he fails to see the wonder in the world around him. Nothing is interesting compared to what he can find on the computer. This is extrememly sad for me. While I do love working and playing on the computer, my idyllic life would contain very minimal electronics. Gone are the days of my innocent young son begging to go outside and work by mommy's side in the garden, getting dirty. Now it's a fight to get him out the door, he plays for ten minutes then comes running back inside to the glowing, mind-sucking monster that sits prominently in our living room. Oh! And here's another thing- he no longer sees animals as an innocent child would- no, he assigns damage statistics, power ratings, and life points to them. Splendid. Like I said, we do limit his time on the computer, and yet he is constantly asking if he can get back on. However, I noticed that he was getting up earlier and earlier in the morning so that he could play uninterrupted. Pretty smart of him, really- he asks us (so he doesn't get in trouble for not having permission) while we're still half asleep, if he can play. Drowsy and full of dreamy apathy, we agree. So then, the next step was that we set the rule that the computer can not be turned on before 7 in the morning.With that rule, he started crawling in bed with us when he awoke and reporting the time to me each minute that it changed. "It's 6:50, mommy... now it's 6:51... Oh! 6:52 now! Getting closer, mommy!... 6:53- that means only, ummm, seven minutes to wait!" Last night a dear friend (thanks W!) suggested that, instead of simply putting a maximum on his computer time, we set up scheduled times for him to be on the computer. If it is not between the times we specify, then he can not get on the computer. Period. And more than that, he can't even ask. I think I'll try it. Immediately.