Life without TV

Growing up we only got one channel, CBS and we RARELY watched it. I remember an hour or two of Saturday morning cartoons and on Friday or Saturday nights watching "Dr Quinn Medicine Women" with my mom. I also remember once in a while catching an episode here or there of "Little House on the Prairie"; however, TV was very limited in our house and we were better off for it.

Having only one channel kinda made that happen but it caused my brother and I to play outside constantly, put our imaginations to work and got us reading.

 Before having kids I made up my mind that I wouldn't let them watch TV much either. Maybe an hour or two a week (I literally remember thinking that)...and then I had kids:)

Then, Graham turned two and became about 10x more active than he was 6 months ago (and that was pretty active then!). He also has always been one to NEED constant attention.

Before Aliza was born, I purposely made him play by himself and wouldn't really interact with him for an hour each day so he would learn to do things alone, since most of my time would be spent on the new infant in the family. However, as time progressed, turning on Sprout or Disney Junior was just SOOOO much easier when I needed to get things done. I did stick to the one hour rule: only instead of one hour a week it became one hour a day.

As Aliza grew and the house got more cluttered and more cluttered, the TV seemed to be on more so I could get things done...you've all been there right mom's? I soon realized that when I came to my senses and figured out that Graham has watched way too much TV and I turned it off, the little tantrum he would throw was showing me that there was a BIG problem here. (Graham doesn't throw tantrums, just so you know- so when he does, there is a huge issue).

 Greg and I are also redoing our budget and trying to save some money so we have made a HUGE decision...we are getting rid of TV...well, we are canceling our DirecTV, and only keeping Netflix. This way Graham can still watch a TV show that he loves once in a while.

 This week I have been easing Graham into it and let me tell you, life without TV has been WONDERFUL to say the least! We have played outside, played with bubbles, wrote on the concrete with sidewalk chalk, played baseball (inside and out), read books, played puzzles, colored, done "school", and just spent lots of quality time together.

The TV has taken that away from us lately, I'm ashamed to admit but I have had such a great time this week with Graham and Aliza without the constant noise of the TV that I am thrilled...

 Also at night after the kids would go to bed, Greg and I would sit down with some popcorn and watch one of our favorite shows...literally every night. We have decided that one night a week we can watch a show or two, but the rest we are going to spend some quality time together by playing games (i killed him in Yahtzee last night by the way), reading together, working on projects, or just talking. VERY much needed for us lately and it has been wonderful!

 Also to make sure we don't get pulled back into the rut of watching too much TV I found this great thing on Pinterest. I printed it off, laminated it and hung it by the entertainment center. I am teaching Graham that whatever number is hooked to the TV is the number of shows he can watch in one day. Each of his shows are ab out 20 min., so this gives me a great idea of how much time he will spend in front of the tube. Most likely each day I will only put a 1 or a 2 on it, but some days if he isn't feeling well, or it's a rainy day, or we just need a day to relax, then I will add more.

 Here is the link to the printable if anyone is interested...
http://www.playingwithwords365.com/2012/07/tv-time-chart-free-download/