ahhh... the fun begins! Are you ready?
I challenge YOU to give up TV for an entire month.
Okay now that half of you have left here's the real deal... I'll start by telling you our TV story. We haven't had cable but we did have 3 tv's (one in the kitchen, one in the front room & one is the toy room). We let the boys watch movies without many boundaries. This wasn't really a problem when they were younger. They didn't ask much and we didn't offer much. However the older they got and when they started getting into video games it became a completely different situation. What was once easy, simple and under control became a hard complicated mess. The boys would beg to watch or play and I would let them most of the time. But they just kept begging more and more and more and then it hit me..... TV MADE THEM BAD. It made them angry, annoyed, rude, it basically turned their brains to mush. Now in reality they spent about 2 hours in front of the tv a day. But they wanted it more... they were addicted and it was controlling parts of their day. I was continually walking into the room and finding another movie on because they could do it by themselves. Something had to happen. So..... we took 2 of the TV's away to be donated. We unplugged the one remaining TV and put all of the movies up HIGH, very HIGH. The first two weeks the boys were very bummed, they whined a little, begged, moped around. But then like a light switch they just stopped and they started playing together like they used to. Creating games and crafts and forts and everything in between. And they were HAPPY, they were NICE, they were EXCITED to play.
It's been about 6 months since we gave up TV and we do watch the occasional family movie (3-4 times) and we've had a few video game nights with dad but other than that the TV cabinet stays shut and the TV unplugged. Because this has been such a POSITIVE experience for our family and because it goes against the grain of society I thought I would share it with you all and hopefully encourage you to make this positive decision for your family as well.
SO I CHALLENGE YOU to give up TV for 28 days... I even picked the shortest month. I don't have anything to bribe you with or reward you with but I do have a promise... a promise that it will positively effect your life.
Here's what you do...
. first you sign up with mister linkey below
. then you post about the challenge on your blog and link back to here... you can copy the image above
. then you copy the html on the sidebar below the TV logo and put it on your sidebar.
If only 2 of you sign up... I'm fine... because if I can positively impact anyone I will have achieved my goal. But I would love to see all of you try... just try... please!!!
Yeah! Great post:) We literally threw away or gave away all of our tvs shortly after Cullen was born 17 months ago. It has been one of the BEST things for our family, our kids, our marriage, our health, our minds, our spiritual lives...
ReplyDeleteWe love our 100% tv-free lives:)
How funny that conservachick just wrote about the same topic! As I commented to her, We gave up TV several years ago (7 this August) and have been nothing but pleased at the fruit for our family :) Great challenge!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I think I could add computer too, to give up! I'm not a huge TV fan. I watch my favorite shows when my son is in bed, thanks to Tivo. But during the day, I love that I keep it off. Kids DO act so much more different when they are playing, being active, and learning by other means than watching TV all the time.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I couldn't go without my favorite shows, but I applaud you and any one else who stands by their decision to not watch or even have a TV in the house. When it works for your family and makes you happy, that is wonderful:)
So glad I found your blog;) I'll be back! Your family is beautiful and I enjoy your outlook:)
I wish I could but I dont know how we would do it. My two loves his movies and its the only time he sits still.And i dont watch tv during the day, but I have my fav evening shows. I guess we could slowly try to wean.
ReplyDeleteFive words:
ReplyDeleteLOST
American Idol
Biggest Loser
If it weren't for those, I would. :)
I don't think my boys would have much trouble with it. They usually don't watch a whole lot of tv. But in the evenings that is how I relax. It is my down time. I just don't know about that one.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all that participate!
My husband would leave me and all our children if we didn't have a TV in the house. He might leave if we didn't have a couple TVs in the house!
ReplyDeleteAs for the kids, they're only allowed to watch PBS or Noggin. Nothing else. They only watch it a few hours a day and only educational stuff. They have never really fought over it or begged for it. They know what times a day they get it and that's it. For the most part, they play with one another and really don't fight all that much. We're pretty lucky on that end.
I hope people have husbands who would allow them to get rid of their TV because mine, well...he's the one addicted and I don't know if I want to listen to him beg or whine for TV :)
It looks like I fall into the majority of your comments here: We have a TV, I keep it off all day, but once Isac is tucked away in bed, there are just some shows my hubby and I watch together!
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I let Isaac watch some TV shows, but I just couldn't stand seeing him just "sit and stare," even if it was for just 30 min. So no more TV for him! He does get to watch a mom/dad approved video twice a week. We also threw away the TV that used to be in our bedroom over a year ago. Moderation is definitely key for our family! Great job to all of you tv-less families! Thanks for sharing your story on going TV-free!
I need to think about this one and ponder all sides of it. Give me until tomorrow. : ) We actually have talked about this (long term) the last couple of years....
ReplyDeleteSounds a little less severe then no electricity days!
It would be nice to give this a try, but with our special needs boys it's not the typical tv situation in our house.
ReplyDeleteThey don't watch tv (occasional family movie), but we do let them play video games now and then. It's the rare time when my oldest son talks and so we kinda see it as therapy for him. On the lazy days when I'm not as strict with time limits I do see their behavior start to get a little too competitive and then it gets shut off.
Great challenge, I love the button!
I'm in.
ReplyDeleteI've actually done this...twice. It's really kinda funny...in August...the 1st to be exact...our TV just quit working. Hubby was in Iraq, so I just didn't bother with it. It was a great month and I totally enjoyed not having the clutter fill my mind. September 1...it miraculously started working again...weird! I guess God wanted us to have a TV fast. Fast forward to January...same sceario, except hubby is home now. He wasn't too excited and would steal away in our daughters room to watch TV. I'm going to try to convince my family to join this challenge, but I think it will have to wait till after the Super Bowl this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteWe won't be doing it this month....
ReplyDeleteWe don't really watch much. The kids don't have video/computer games, etc. to bug us about.
What we do need some time away from is the computer! I think the computer is more of a distration than the tv for Philip & I in the evening!
We're working on that!
I grew up doing that in my family! (from Oct 1st to Thanksgiving day - no tv. We got to watch the parade first thing!) My mom swears that we were totally different kids! I would have to agree. I'm on the same page as the other comments... I'd like to but I think my hubby would explode.. and it's our "time" to relax after the kiddos are in bed. I do enjoy putting on cd's during the day... Go Fish guys / Patch the Pirate/ and the Pond are three of our favs.
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled upon your blog in the last few days and have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your life with your boys. I just became a mother to my first boy who is 3 months old. I saw the TV challenge link and read about it. My husband and I live overseas in Hungary as missionaries, and we do not have television. We do have a DVD player but don't watch much, and I must say that I really don't miss it at all! It was a bummer at first but now I don't even think about it really. So glad to hear that your family is doing this and that your boys are playing together. I look forward to our little guy having a sibling one of these days to play with!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I would love to do one day. Right now though, TV is kind of a life preserve for me. My husband is deployed, I have a 4 and half month old, and not many friends in our new hometown [we have been here 4 and half months]. My baby loves country music, it really calms her down, so I play it during the day while we play. I will put a show on or the news while she naps for background noise so I clean or else my cleaning will wake her up.
ReplyDeleteI definetly one day don't want to have my tv as the crutch that it is.
Great challenge idea though and I hope to be able to do it one day. Maybe during the times my husband isn't deployed.
We've been cable-free for 2.5 years (our inspiration: the cable company took too long to hook us up after our move!). Our kids play together so much better; and more imaginatively (dinosaur Survivor, anyone?) than they did before. We get free Redbox every Monday, utilize the library 1x/week for movies, and enjoy the extra $50ish in our checking each month!
ReplyDeleteWe've lived without tv since I asked my husband to move out. I generously told him he could take the tv with him. It was odd at first, but I still love the peace and love being master of my own day - i do all sorts of creative things to keep myself busy. I shall never have a tv again. The only thing I have to work at now is how to get my son to stop spending so much time on his psp and computer. Maybe I should just get rid of the psp. Or keep hold of it myself and let him have it an hour a day. It's the bain of my existence - he's addicted too and gets so fussy, narrow minded and rude when he doesn't feel he's getting enough of it.
ReplyDelete