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Boob Tube

Soapboxes come in many sizes and I happen to be the owner of a couple. One of the mid-size boxes revolves around television. I don't like it. It wastes time and gives you nothing back. Why does it matter what some person that you have never met and will never meet chooses to do with there weight/love life/kitchen? Television prevents you from being present with the ones your with, it stifles creative life, and when you look back in 10 years it will have given you nothing worth remembering. And don't even get me started on the who eating dinner in front of the t.v thing. This is my soapbox for my family, no one elses. Matt, sometimes begrudgingly, acquiesces. So television is not a big thing in our house. We don't have one in the bed rooms or on the main floor. Matt and I don't watch it very often. In the evenings you are more likely to find us reading a book or talking over a cup of coffee. We don't "follow" that many shows. Despite all of this, we have raised a t.v junkie.

Eliana would watch t.v anytime, no matter what is on. She will watch it for as long as it is going, she can't seem to say no to the magic box. Addilyn, on the other hand, really couldn't give a rip when it comes to the boob tube. In the last 6 months I have noticed a disturbing trend in my eldest child; more conversations were including characters from t.v, games of pretend included things she had seen on the screen, we were debating how much and when to turn the television off and on. And then it happened. My child who has been potty trained for over 2 years, peed on the floor because she couldn't rip herself away from a show.

We went cold turkey. For over a week we have been television free except for a family movie showing of "little Mermaid". Eliana plays better, more creatively. We read more books, have more conversations, play more pretend games about things we haven't seen on t.v. Eliana comments matter of factly every morning that we are not going to watch anything today.

I don't believe television is the root of all evil, you can be a great or lousy parent despite your viewing habits. Here is my challenge to you, record the amount of screen time you spend in 1 week. Then think of all the things you could have done with that time such as read a book, sew something, write something, paint or draw, help a friend, clean a closet, chat about life and reconnect with your mate....What would your life look like if you chose for 1 night a week to leave the tv off?

Comments

We TV watchers will be happy to take that 40" flat screen off your hands....
:)
But, seriously, you are right about it sucking up your time and giving almost nothing back.
Jennifer McHam said…
So true. Preach on sister. Tristan is a boob-tube-aholic. We are implementing the 3-coupons-a-day thing. Why 3? Because it's been over 100 for a week and it's too hot for mommy to be creative anymore. I feel pretty good that we got through the majority of the summer w/o having to go back to the coupon thing. Hopefully it's as painfree as last year. Thanks to my genius friend who came up with such a brilliant plan!
Recursively said…
When I was a kid, we watched so much TV that my dad came home and ripped the plug right off one night. Bear in mind that he never lost his temper with us, not even on that occasion. It definitely sent a message, though. For my part, I like a little distraction while doing a Jillian workout on my iPhone, so I will throw on an interesting program like Dual Survivor from Discovery channel. Sorry, those guys are just funny together. Still, you are right that it can definitely be a mind and time vacuum!!!
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