Friday, April 16, 2010
TV Turnoff Week
TV turnoff week begins next week (April 19-25). I am thinking about participating. For those of you who have turned off the tv in your homes, what suggestions do you have to share? If you haven't yet, are you game to participate? I will report back next week as to how it went for us. I am excited and nervous! I will admit to using the tv as a babysitter for my kids from time to time. There. I said it.
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We cancelled our cable in April of 2006 - four whole years ago. We were a family of five at the time with my youngest (son) 7 yrs old. (One daughter has since married). IT WAS HARD!!! My husband and children transitioned without it with extreme ease. But me - oh the withdrawal I had. It took me a couple of months, but now I don't miss it one bit. We do have a TV and tapes/DVD's, but no TV reception with the outside world.
We spend 2 - 4 hours per week watching tapes. My married daughter has no TV reception either. She has a toddler and a baby. They have some Curious George DVD's and Thomas Tapes.
My son played way more with his Legos and his matchbox cars, and Lincoln Logs. In the winter (we live in Western NY) I love puzzles, or crochet, or games. You can always put a Christian radio station on. I was amazed how the whole house seems to have a peaceful aura about it without the television.
You can do it!!! It is certainly worth a try for one week. God Bless - Rhonda
I would like to try it for one week. I like to watch Joyce Meyer in the mornings getting ready for work, but sometimes then I don't read my Bible or devotional or get out of the house early enough to walk a bit before work...plus in the evening, I find myself just vegging out a lot watching the entertainment tonight/hollywood stuff...I do like to watch Dancing with the stars and American Idol, but I could skip it for a week...I do know especially in the evenings after I get home from work at 5pm tv can be a real time waster, so I am up for trying it next week!
It would have to be a personal decision for me. My husband is SO not game! He is a tv junkie! We watch our share of movies - gotta love Netflix!
I would be giving up Biggest Loser, and Little House On The Prairie that Hallmark channel just brought back on after weeks of Martha Stewart.
But I think I could do it. I think that the kids would be up for the challenge. The thing would be to say "No" almost every time they asked to watch a movie! Also, I wonder about the bickering. My guess is that it would escalate for a while.
Not sure what we will do. It's tempting.
You can so do it! We did it for over a year once and have no cable/satellite now. Only what comes in using that little black box. Even with that, it's too much considering there is very little on that is fit to watch. I think it's good for everybody. It makes us become more creative and intentional about how we fill our time.
For real? I didn't know they had one of those...LOL. Hmmm ... I definitely could do it. It's just getting my husband to agree that might be a problem. Oh my gosh there is NO shame in admitting to using the TV as a babysitter, pleeeese. I'm really curious what would come of it if our family did this.
When we cut our cable off in December, I wondered what we would do with our time. We have three teenage girls and an 11 year old son. They were the easy sell, my 42 year old sports fanatic was the harder one to get on board. We have had more fun though. We have taught the children lots of group card games. Our project list seems to be getting done. The one big thing I have seen is that instead of 6 people watching 4 different tv's in different areas of the house, we all seem to watch in one room at the same time when we rent movies from redbox on the weekends. The teachers have said that our testing grades are up. So enjoy the spring and turn the tv off. Call me and let me know how it is going. P.S. There is always Hulu-I watch my favorite shows online for free when I need a quick fix.
Paige
We're not much of a TV family, but I remember once we did make the TV off limits for awhile. I made a list of alternate activities (play cards, build with legos, read, etc.) that I then wrote on a large poster board and taped it over the TV screen. It was a visual reminder that there was no TV and I didn't have to answer whines about what to do instead.
We did this for a week in January along with computer, Wii and ipods... it was hard at first. But there were so many blessings. We did a lot of reading and a lot of games. I found that my 14 y.o. son was much calmer not playing video games and he in particular listened much better when I needed him to do something. He wasn't glued to the computer and irritated with me taking him away from it. I would definitely do it again and may just go for it this week! No shame in admitting that you use it for a sitter. I think that's the reality for most of us. I did find that it forced me to be more present and not just send them off to watch tv!
Blessings to you and your family. The great thing about doing it now is that it is nice outside and they can be playing outside.
Oh, and we did allow it for homework research with supervision that week.
It's a lot easier when you have no tv to part with! :)
heheh.
amy in peru
I am going to do it! Everyone is on board and I am excited. I don't really mind personally but the babysitting function will be missed.
We have a general rule in our house of no screens on school nights. That means no tv, no video games, no computer if there is school the next day. You'd be amazed how quickly the family adjusts to the rule. In fact, if the tv is on during the week, my youngest will remind my husband of the no screens rule. It's amazing how much more gets done without the screens taking up so much of our time.
We became a tv-less family in June 09 - could not get the new digital signal in our rural area without going to a satelite service or intalling a big antenna. We rent a movie, about once per week, but it's been at least 2 or 3 weeks since we watched the last one. I like having control of what comes into our home. Some of the network shows make me uncomfortable and aren't appropriate for children (of any age!).
Instead, we read, put together puzzles, play cards, cook together, spend more time outside. The kids don't even ask anymore. It wasn't a hard transition for us.
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