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If you have it they will WATCH




We've made a pretty big decision recently. Our plan come August is to get rid of our DirecTV and the many channels that we have.
Our family life is super busy and most of the time any of the television watched is just fluff. I wouldn't mind so much, but with a DVR we can watch hour after hour of fluff. I could get rid of the DVR, but then I probably wouldn't approve of many of the things the girls watch.
We (the husband and I) have been playing a little "trick" on our girls by hiding some of the viewable channels that they like to watch. Most notably ... Disney 1 and 2, Nick, Cartoon Network, and a few others. The first day we just got rid of a few channels (Disney) and I noticed the next day, my girls found the "other" channels (Nick)and started watching SpongeBob over and over. When Nickelodeon was removed, I noticed a whole new channel that they liked and it wasn't a "kid" channel. While I was gone for a few hours yesterday, "CSI" (the show) was viewed. Suddenly on my DVR, I now have a season pass to this show.
I could put TV limits, but I'm not sure that would work well with my family of 7. Somebody is sure to not get all their tv hours in and someone else will be watching too much.
SO ... come August the TV will be shut off. I think we may just get the very basic cable (I think that may be 8 channels worth) so that we can actually see beyond television fuzz. PBS will be the extent of "kid television". THIS hopefully will be an easy transition. With all the girls going to school this year (I don't think I have mentioned that) and their various activities (swimming, piano, etc.), I just don't want the television as an interference.
We still have computers and Wii. That is enough media for our family to deal with ;) Besides, I KNOW that my girls have figured out how to watch television on the computer. Just last night, they found some Little Rascals episodes on YouTube. SMART COOKIES I have!
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Comments

christine M said…
We never had cable TV - and although it wasn't a deliberate parenting decision - it was one of the best parenting moves we ever made. My kids watched PBS when they were little (they are now 11 and 8) but once they outgrew DragonTales and Arthur - they stopped watching TV. They have DVDs that they watch - including the entire Brady Bunch series - and they'll watch an episode or two (depending on amount of homework or how nice it is outside) when they get home from school. But that's pretty much it. They keep themselves plenty busy and don't seem to mind that they can't watch shows other kids are talking about.

Good luck with your experiment!
9:36 AM
Rob said…
We have kind of gone in the opposite direction.
got married in 1989.
had no tv until 1998
got a 12 inch tv then
had that until
2002 when somone gave us a 20 inch
2004 i bought a 32 inch
we still only had rabbitt ears
2006 somone gave my wife a 52 inch HD tv. we hooked the dvd and vcr up to it.
still rabbitt ears
last novmeber we gave in and got FIOS. 300+ channels of so and HD signal on some

We are thinking of getting a Wii.
Do you like it?
9:53 AM
Shelly said…
I love love love those beach pictures you take of your girls! those are truly priceless!
10:02 AM
Colleen said…
What are you going to do when they're all in school? Ahhhh, I dream of that day now, but I know once it comes, I will miss my babies being at home with me!!
2:10 PM
thesixburghmom said…
We've been thinking of doing something similar...or at least downgrading what we have. John did use the parental controls on our DirecTV box to lock the tv from viewing after 11am. The meltdowns that day when they realized they couldn't watch it just proved we did the right thing...lol.

My MIL works at a school and she said she and her coworkers have noticed each year that the endurance the students have on field day is diminishing gradually. Now the teachers have more energy then the kids to make it through the events. Pretty sad!
3:02 PM
southernjoy said…
{p} has started to watch too much tv. We like cable for things like discovery channel, but then lots of Disney gets seen, too. The only show on Nick that gets watched is Scooby.

We're thinking about a Wii too. Is it really fun??
4:16 PM
Unknown said…
YOU GO GIRL! You know I am totally on board with your decision. ;)

{W}
4:33 PM
Anonymous said…
Good luck with it! With all your running around and being at other activities they probably won't even miss it. For us it is a big source of entertainment for R and I at night. We couldn't do without it! LOL!
7:01 AM
Anonymous said…
I can understand getting rid of Directv, especially during summer when the weather is nice and when everyone is in school. We've been having problems with our receivers, and so we may switch to dish, but we won't be getting rid of our bazillion channels. We'd miss our geek tv too much-- the shows we like to watch aren't on broadcast tv.
10:11 AM
momto5minnies said…
I did think about my husband and I at night. We usually get in some TV time, but it really isn't that much before we both head to bed.

I'll miss my FOX news.

I may have to do some other entertaining at night. You know ... reading and stuff ;)
10:12 AM
Philippa said…
We got rid of our Sky and only have a few channels. The kids get quickly bored that there is nothing on and go and do something else. It works well for us. If nothing else, we make sure there is very little TV in the summer. The winter is a bit different.
I am sure you and your DH will think of something to do! ;-)
3:16 PM
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