Turn off the TV Week

Turn off the TV Week is April 18 to 24. While I haven't completely sold my spouse on the idea, I'm looking forward to a few quiet(er) nights without screen time. It's too easy to slip into bad habits, and for this week, it's a great opportunity to spring-clean our lives. Check out my post at the Green Phone Booth.

Two weeks...

Two weeks. No TV. No friends. No playdates. And no cooking.

Yikes.

It's the perfect storm with not-so-perfect timing: A major project for my employer lights up in a week and a half's time, which means communications preparations on my end, lots of odd hours and evening calls at just the time I need to settle the kids down for bed.

Yikes.

Unfortunately we have to do what we can to impart on our daughter that while standing up for our friends is a good thing, the methods she's chosen are questionable. And so, in a sense, we're all in deep with her.

We've done a week-long sabatical from TV before, but two weeks will be tough. I'm praying for good weather. And maybe a glass or two of wine for mom...

In the wake of our Great TV Rebellion

Tuning off TVs. It's something that's tougher and tougher to do these days. In the wake of big screens, iPhones, TVs in every room, portable (or installed) DVD players in your cars, and don't forget, YouTube, it is getting harder and harder to shut out the media.

I thought as parents we were doing a decent job of limiting screen time in our home. While we can't control day care, we can control what happens here. And that was largely limited to the occasional movie, the rare cooking shows and a routine of PBS Kids.

I thought we were doing well. Then the unthinkable happened.

Wednesday night, I heard the fateful words from my husband's mouth: "No TV for a week!"

And my first thought was, What have you done?

Because, as a parent, while I limit the TV use, we do use it strategically. I've been known to let them settle down with a show while cutting food or cooking it over a hot stove - far better than an injury or burn. Or on a particularly hectic night, a few minutes can help them wind down when a book doesn't. But now that option was gone.

But more than a week after the fact, I can tell you, we survived. It wasn't easy, but we did it.

Instead of screen time, we all played in the garden, where my son discovered that he could make mud for the first time. (Thank goodness he doesn't like to get his hands dirty!)

Instead of screen time, we went to a home improvement store for a kids activity, and my daughter built her own mini garden planter, painted a pot and picked out an herb for her to care for.

Instead of screen time, we got dirty. Not with mud, but with the goofiness that comes from making homemade whipped cream for strawberries and butter in a mixer, following an unbelievable sale on organic whipping cream at the grocery. (At 75 cents a pint, I'm set for some time.)

Instead of screen time, we went to the library - and got books (instead of the freebie movies that my oldest tends to beg for). And we've read them, learning about gardening and lynxes and Puerto Rico (OK, that one's for me.)

Instead of screen time, we got sun time - riding our trikes and bikes, playing soccer, taking walks, going to the park.

Instead of screen time, we had family time. Real family time. And that's what mattered.

Need a little encouragement to try going TV-free? We're in the middle of the Biomicry Insitute's "Great TV Rebellion," encouraging us to shut down TV and tune into nature for Earth Week. (They even have an activity guide on their site, however, it's geared for school-age children.)

Another reason I'm mother of the year

I confess. For all of my talk about limiting TV in our home, we make friends with the electronic babysitter from time to time. OK, maybe more than I thought.

We've tried to limit our kids' viewing to children's shows we've screened and cooking shows. Sports were fine, until we realized that the commercials for some of the movies and video games out today were scaring the 4 year old, causing some of our bedtime battles.

And we thought that decision was OK. Until yesterday.

My daughter was doing her usual cooking with water routine - typically it's making "chocolate chip tea." Or so I thought.

Lined up on our kitchen table were two child-size tea cups and her brother's sippy cup, which she picked up and started shaking up and down. "I'm making cocktails," she proudly said.

What?? We're not teatotallers by any means (we have the occasional glass of wine or beer), but we certainly don't have leisurely chats about "cocktails."

"Sandra Lee on the cooking show makes cocktails," she informed me. "I'm making water cocktails."

Yikes. They keep you on your toes, don't they? Time to rethink what they're watching, yet again!

The TV Talk

Last night we finally had The Talk in our house.

“Grace has a TV in her room.”
“Yes, yes, she does.”
“I don’t.”
“No, we share our TV in our family.”
“But Grace has one.”
“Yes, Grace has one. But our family has one TV, and we watch it together. If you were in your room by yourself, you would be sad.”
“When I am four, can I have a TV?”

This is when my husband cut in with that never-in-your-life tone that is buried deep in that Y chromosome. “You will NEVER have a TV in your room until you’re out of the house!”

Silence.

I never thought we’d have the television battle just yet. Grade school, sure. Preschool, no.

Yes, we’re movie people, but we’re just not live-or-die by the television types. My husband, who grew up in the country, believes kids should enjoy the real world first. I never grew up with a TV in my room either, but in the short period I lived with my in-laws after our apartment flooded, I realized how jarring it can be. We’d turn on the TV, which was in our room, every night for hours to escape. It wasn’t great for us, nor for our relationship.

In fact, when we built our house, no bedrooms had a cable outlet. My mother protested it’d be an issue for resale value. My feeling is by the time we sell, it will all be wireless.

I realize we’re an oddity in this society. Though, if you pay attention to the dialogue about going digital, it seems that fewer people are relying on cable these days. Maybe we’re not so strange after all.

So, no, little one, you won’t be getting a TV for your room. You will someday remember fighting over shows with your brother, protesting when parents overrule and playing “movie theatre” on a blanket with your bowl of popcorn. And that is OK too.