Ten Months and Counting
Ten months ago we moved to Idaho from Texas. Before we left Texas, I told Will I wanted us to do some things differently in our new life. The biggest change was the abandonment of cable or network tv in our home. So we've gone ten months without tv. And I don't think we'll ever go back.
I was prompted by this article to write about our life without tv. Let me first say that I have lived my whole life addicted to television. I was watching MTV back when they were running Monkees marathons. I remember watching 'You Can't Do That on Television' wondering why they always said 'abote' instead of 'about'. My first imaginary friend was Ritchie Cunningham from Happy Days. My sister and I would fight over who got to be Belinda Carlisle when the Go-gos came on. I've got more commercial jingles in my head than I can count. So why would I decide to completely eliminate something from my children's lives when it was such a major part of my own life?
Because tv is so different than it was when I was growing up. I used to watch stuff like 'Family Ties' and 'Growing Pains' with my family. They were made as family sitcoms. Sure, they weren't all that funny and looking back the laugh track sounds a little pathetic, but we could watch it together. I don't know of a non-Disney channel show on today that our family could watch together. And what about the Disney channel shows? They're great, except that the primetime ones are more for tweens than 4 year olds. So my 4 year old was prancing around singing Hilary Duff and Lindsey Lohan songs about love and romance. See my Bratz post to find out why this was unacceptable in our house.
Even the sports were out of control. I remember changing the channel or putting the tv on mute during the commercials of the Spurs playoffs because of all the sexy commercials. So we concluded we weren't getting enough out of tv programming to make it worth the constant censorship. And in Idaho we'd start fresh without tv.
So what is our life like now? I promise my kids aren't sitting around doing crossword puzzles and discussing literature all day. They play. And the phrase 'I'm bored' can get you manual labor in our house. And of course, they watch videos. I'm at the library a couple of times a week borrowing videos and dvds that I know are age appropriate. They watch a video at lunch and one afterschool. And sometimes at night now that our days are so long. This is a far cry from our San Antonio days, when entire Saturdays could be spent in front of the tv.
So that's our tv free story so far. I'm hoping to not sound preachy because I know we're all doing our best for our kids. But if anyone's ever thought of booting the tv out, I'll testify it's one one the best decisions we've made. And not just for the kids. Here's another link that lists what doctors think about tv and kids. I'm horrified at the idea that these television guys are targeting our infants. It's just a matter of time before "Embryo TV" is launched.
http://here-in-idaho.blogspot.com/
I was prompted by this article to write about our life without tv. Let me first say that I have lived my whole life addicted to television. I was watching MTV back when they were running Monkees marathons. I remember watching 'You Can't Do That on Television' wondering why they always said 'abote' instead of 'about'. My first imaginary friend was Ritchie Cunningham from Happy Days. My sister and I would fight over who got to be Belinda Carlisle when the Go-gos came on. I've got more commercial jingles in my head than I can count. So why would I decide to completely eliminate something from my children's lives when it was such a major part of my own life?
Because tv is so different than it was when I was growing up. I used to watch stuff like 'Family Ties' and 'Growing Pains' with my family. They were made as family sitcoms. Sure, they weren't all that funny and looking back the laugh track sounds a little pathetic, but we could watch it together. I don't know of a non-Disney channel show on today that our family could watch together. And what about the Disney channel shows? They're great, except that the primetime ones are more for tweens than 4 year olds. So my 4 year old was prancing around singing Hilary Duff and Lindsey Lohan songs about love and romance. See my Bratz post to find out why this was unacceptable in our house.
Even the sports were out of control. I remember changing the channel or putting the tv on mute during the commercials of the Spurs playoffs because of all the sexy commercials. So we concluded we weren't getting enough out of tv programming to make it worth the constant censorship. And in Idaho we'd start fresh without tv.
So what is our life like now? I promise my kids aren't sitting around doing crossword puzzles and discussing literature all day. They play. And the phrase 'I'm bored' can get you manual labor in our house. And of course, they watch videos. I'm at the library a couple of times a week borrowing videos and dvds that I know are age appropriate. They watch a video at lunch and one afterschool. And sometimes at night now that our days are so long. This is a far cry from our San Antonio days, when entire Saturdays could be spent in front of the tv.
So that's our tv free story so far. I'm hoping to not sound preachy because I know we're all doing our best for our kids. But if anyone's ever thought of booting the tv out, I'll testify it's one one the best decisions we've made. And not just for the kids. Here's another link that lists what doctors think about tv and kids. I'm horrified at the idea that these television guys are targeting our infants. It's just a matter of time before "Embryo TV" is launched.
http://here-in-idaho.blogspot.com/
posted by Will at 5/22/2006 10:00:00 AM
6 Comments:
I hear ya, sister! We cut off our direct tv about 2 years ago because we could save about $500 a year, and to tell you the truth, we really don't miss it. We stay outside alot more, we do more stuff as a family, and other than the Wiggles, the kids are perfectly content with PBS. I do miss the Food Network because face it, it rocks, and my husband misses his hunting shows, but we've become different, better people since cutting it off. I'm proud of ya'll for doing the same!
We dont have cable or satillite b/c we would cease to function, i just know we would. My kids however ARE addicted to PBS, something I'm trying to break
I love how "I"m bored" can get you manual labor... I think I may steal that little gem...
Great post.
We cut off our satellite and packed the family room TV up in January. We live in the middle of nowhere, so we don't get anything over the air, either.
Dh and I grew up like you did - and for people with no TV, we still quote it, sing it's jingles (okay, so no new ones lol) and generally reference it a LOT.
But we don't miss it now. I knew we'd "made it" when we reached the point where we didn't feel like we were looking for something to do "instead" of watch.
Ever since my son was born I have strived to be a TV free mom. I have gone through very successfful phases of this, and not so successful phases.
It was easiest when we didn't have cable. It all went downhill when we realized that we can have free cable by splicing the cable from the people who rent downstairs.
I try, I really try, but it is such a crutch for me, the TV.
If we don't get cable for free by splicing it in our new house when we move (at the end of september) it will probably be a good thing.
For years we got free cable. We would move into a new house, plug in the tv and the freakin cable would just show up. Even Showtime. At our last house I actually CALLED THE CABLE COMPANY and told them they could fix it and they didn't. It's like everyone was conspiring to make us watch Fat Actress. But then we got to Idaho and we can't even pick up PBS or the local stations. So I have to get Fat Actress off of netflix. So I'm completely sympathetic on the free cable thing.
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