I have always thought of myself as a mother who was careful about what shows I let my kids watch and how much TV they saw all together. We are a creative family, but there has just always seemed to be some kind of draw to the TV that was stronger than our combined efforts against it. So, after much inspiration from many books (see a few favorites below) we are now TV Free and loving it! We feel so much better and our connection as a family (which we have always had) is now even stronger. It is truly amazing that we don't even seem to notice that it is gone anymore. We just took all the TVs off the walls one day and out of the house, canceled cable and looked each other in the eyes and just thought of something else to do. And there was so much to do! We replaced all the plastic one-purpose toys with open ended toys like rocks, pine cones, shells, silk scarves, wax crayons and paper, a tree swing and so much more. We got outside more as a family and spent time talking to each other more. My house felt so much more appealing to my own senses, and my children seemed to have the same response (sigh of relief). After a lifetime of watching TV, I thought it would be hardest for me to give up the tube. I really was addicted to my favorite shows. But after reading about the health affects on children and wanting to be a true example to my children, I just went for it. Well, I actually haven't missed it. I have noticed that I feel a sense of freedom from all the unimportant chatter that was running though my head on a daily basis from all the shows I watched in the week. I assume my children were feeling that same sense of freedom even though they never watched that much TV, there young brains are more sensitive to even small amounts of screen time. The funniest part of this whole change in our house was when my 3 year old came running into the rooms calling his sisters name and says "Come! Come!....Look! The TV is gone!" Well, the the TV had been gone for 5 days and this was the first he had noticed. I wan't sure what his reaction would be, as he loved his shows too. But to my utter joy and surprise, he just started laughing and laughing about the fact that he hadn't noticed until now. Then he turned around and got back to his hard work making a boat he from a cardboard box and some rope. I never heard another word about it from him. Every once in a while my 5 year old will ask about watching a movie and I just tell her that we don't have a TV and redirect her to another creative project or sit down and read a book to her and she is perfectly happy with these alternatives. Not only are we saving money not having a TV and cable, done are the days of the begging and whining and pleading for another show. For that reason alone, I am so glad we are TV FREE. We can all breath a sigh of relief that we are free at last from this box we so easily allowed into our house so many years ago. We never even questioned it's presence in our lives until now. And now that we have, we have decided that it is definitely not a welcome guest.
My favorite Books:
Simplicity Parenting
Kindergarten with your three to six year old, Donna Simmons
Good article to read:
http://www.insteadoftv.com/
http://www.ivillage.com/101-tv-free-alternatives/6-a-145059
http://www.simplicityparenting.com/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html
***Please post a comment if you are TV Free, want to be or just have a thought to share. I would love to hear about your own experiences with TV in your house.
In a tree not in front of the TV.
1 comment:
Way to go!!! If my hubby didn't have a say in it, I would get rid of ours, too!
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