We have four TV's in our house, one in the living room and one in our bedroom and both the girls rooms. Wyatt was on the fast track to having one as well. We love TV, would watch endlessly. Even when we were doing other things, the TV was on. It was our background noise, our comfort, our constant companion.
Until about a month ago.
We decided (mostly I decided then convinced Jim to get on board) to cancel our satellite service, get an antenna for local channels and subscribe to instant video services like Netflix and Hulu Plus.
Now, I know what y'all are thinking. That's not much of a change.
Oh yes it is! We went from endless channels with endless types and amounts of TV shows to only what Netflix and Hulu Plus have and for the record, none of us really like or watch Hulu Plus. Well, except Wyatt. He loves to watch his shows on the Hulu Plus app on the iPad. Yup, my two year old can work my iPad almost as well as me.
The first two weeks were by far the worst. We only watched Netflix and the movie choices aren't always great. There were no new episodes of anything. No sitting down on a Monday night and putting it on CBS and leaving it all evening. No, we had to pick a movie or show then when it went off, hunt for something else.
At one point, I looked and Jim and said "I miss commercials!" Have you ever said that? I never thought I would either.
But I did.
I missed regular TV. I missed the news. I missed my addiction (AKA The Young and the Restless).
But we stuck with it.
Finally, I broke down and bought an inside antenna. It was glorious to see real TV again. I think I even cried alittle.
By far, it was worse on the girls. They were used to watching TV in the mornings before school, after school while they had a snack, after homework, at night with us in the living room and to go to sleep with. They whined. They pouted. They got angry.
Then they got used to it. It's not like they had to completely go without. They have DVD players and Kindle Fire HDs with the Netflix and Hulu Plus apps.
Last week, I realized on about Wednesday or Thursday that the TV hadn't been on all day long or for a few days prior. Wyatt and I played outside since we had unseasonable perfect weather... in August... in the hot, humid South. We played trains and cars and read books. I got housework done, homework done, and had time to work on a special project (no deets yet). When Wyatt napped, it was perfectly quiet in my house, except for the occasional running dishwasher or washing machine. Quiet is something I'd forgotten and realized that I really missed. It's just so... quiet.
Can I tell you that it was a perfect week.
This week, we've watched alittle more TV than last week but not near as much as we used to. As a matter-of-fact, our new house rule is that we turn it off most of the afternoon. Then the girls come home from school, have a snack, do homework, then chores, then play outside, THEN finally they can watch TV.
All of us have played outside more, Wyatt and I have started going for morning walks, and the girls are even exercising regularly.
We talk more during supper because we aren't all trying to see the TV from the dining room.
As I type this, my youngest two are dancing to music on Cassidy's iPod. They are laughing and having a blast. I think I'll go join them.
Oh, and about my addiction? I'm proud to say that I'm a recovering Y & R addict, haven't watched an episode in weeks.
I wish we'd done this sooner.
