turning off the t.v.

reading

A few weeks ago we decided to put away our T.V. I had been thinking about it for a while. Espeically after reading this post over at Sharilyn’s lovely blog.

I was becoming lazy as a parent. Putting Sosi in front of the T.V to get things done (not that she minded). Then I noticed she was automatically turning it on first thing in the morning and as soon as she got home. She always wanted to watch it. We were arguing more and more. It was a battle to get her to do anything, from brushing her hair to getting dressed.

One day I had enough. We had an awful morning of nonstop bickering, as soon as she was off to school I took the T.V. and put it in the closet. When she came home from school I told her that it was broken. She cried and cried. She was inconsolable, saying things like “the T.V was my best friend”. I held her and told her it was going to be O.K. I was expecting her to not be happy, but I was surprised by just how upset she was.

She is still asking for it, and I have moments where I feel a little bad. I loved watching T.V as a kid, and we have movies that we love to watch together.  But she is so much more agreeable and we have such a better quality of time together. She seems like herself again, sweet and fun.

Yesterday while I was scrambling to get supper ready I noticed it was much too quiet. I tip toed and peeked into Ila’s room and this is what I found. I don’t think this moment would have happened if we had a T.V.

Posted on Posted in Life

10 thoughts on “turning off the t.v.”

  2. When we were kids, there were only about 4 channels, and 3 decent shows. Plus, marketing aimed at kids is pure evil now. It’s gone from an occasional amusement device to an addictive drug.

    I hope you can still watch your own shows on a laptop though!

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  3. I’ve been making a real effort to turn off the TV more recently, and it definitely makes a difference to how easy and happy my toddler is. Short term pain definitely results in long term gain!

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  5. We used the TV when my second child was born. We let my older daughter watch any time I was nursing, hoping to avoid much jealousy and well…poking and prodding. It worked great, but we slowly weaned the tv away (we didn’t closet it but mentally it is not allowed.) We do however, watch a movie on the weekend (Yay Totoro!)

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  6. short term pain, long term gain indeed. it was a definite leap of faith, but so worth it.

    don’t worry mia, i still get my tv fix my computer. loved slings and arrows!

    that said, i sometimes let sosi watch movies on my computer too… so she isn’t totally tv free, but so much better!

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  7. such a great story! we don’t have a tv in our house either, but we do have the computer and i do let cohen watch a little downloaded tv everyday. your post has got me thinking that maybe cutting it out would be good for us. i wonder if it would make him more willing to play on his own? that always seems to be the trouble, the constant asking if i can play in his room and unwillingness to play on his own. it’s a good time of year to try though, so many better things to be doing anyway!

    good for you for taking the plunge.

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  8. What a beautiful moment to have captured. Stay strong it does drain you without this easy fix but as they say this too will pass.

    Good luck!

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  10. Honestly… I’ve had the “TV is my best friend” feeling in many stages of my life and it’s a little sad. I think it’s a good thing you did. I have managed to curb my consumption but I find myself, at the end of a long day, sort of wishing my son would get into a show. At least I am aware of it right?

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