I’m thinking of pitching the satellite dish, but I’m afraid.
I’m not going to name any names, but one child in this house loves his TV: Power Rangers, Jackie Chan Adventures, Sponge Bob. Sponge Bob and I have come to an understanding, he’s not as bad as some other cartoons out there, but I think it’s time to oust Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon from my living room.
Then again.
(And now I’m going to talk myself out of it.)
Sometimes it’s nice to just turn the box on and have the kids distracted. I feel like a bad mother when I say it. Stick the little ones in front of the tube as a babysitter. And Doc and I like to be entertained too. But how many times can you watch Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines? How much more writing and reading would I be able to do if not flopped in front of the television?
It’s just stupid and mindless.
The summer is a logical time to go satellite-free, I think. And we still have the DVD player and Netflix and the library’s DVDs. It’s not like the cartoons are constantly on, either. As a mother and a homeschooler, I hate it that TV is the first thing thought of to do when boredom strikes. And watching TV is not really doing anything but staring, is it?
Hello there!
I really appreciate your posts!
I know what it’s like to raise boys- I have 2 of my own: ages 8 and 7. 18 months apart!
I liked what you said about trying to ween the kids off the TV. I’ve recently tried to enforce more reading in the house.
I just joined an online book rental club BookSwim. I’m on one of the higher plans of books-at-a-time, so if I get Brandon “Bubble Trouble”, I still receive Patterson’s “Third Degree” in the same shipment. That’s another thing: Shipping’s entirely on them, just like Netflix.
I wanted to share it. They recently went public and not too many people know yet. It’s totally worth checking out.
Best of luck to you!
-Dorothy Lang
thanks for the tip, Dorothy, I’m going to check it out.
We moved our TV down to the basement when we bought our (small) house… had never liked the way TV’s dominate an entire room (all seats aimed towards it, etc.)
Turned out to feel like genius move. We still watch some TV. But not much. Because you have to REALLY want to watch TV, and the basement is dark, and a little musty, etc. etc. And our almost-six year old seems not to miss it.
Bookswim sounds cool, too, will check it out, thanks!
Thanks for checking out my blog. We went TV free 5 years ago and don’t regret it at all. I was the one addicted to watching it. When we got rid of it I started reading. We still own a TV for videos and DVDs but it’s set up in my bedroom and there is a 1 video a day rule to prevent all day “babysitting”. This is just as much for me as for the kiddos. Without a TV the kids read alot and play games with each other. They play outside more(when it’s not too hot) and generally find other things to do.
Yes, I miss not having access to some educational shows and I would love to veg in front of a mindless show every wed. night or something like that but I know that in reality, the TV is a big time thief and it does more damage to my family than good. We get our fill when we visit Nana and then we go home grateful that we will have more time to interact with each other or read by ourselves.
You can do it. I have two kids (9 and 10) – we’ve never had network TV – nothing. We only have a collection of DVD’s. It’s easier to control what they are watching or going to watch