I would love to remove the TV from our home. I don't like the way it sucks my family in and turns them into rude zombies. I don't want to spend valuable family time arguing over how much, when, what...
Don't get me wrong. There are things I like to watch too and I'm a sucker for Friends or My Family and a few others but I could switch off completely and not feel like I was missing anything.
Lauren spoke here about her family and self regulation, or lack thereof and it really resonated with me. In our home I am the chocoholic who CAN NOT self regulate no matter how much I try, or how sick it makes me feel and obviously Mr HMH and The Munchkin struggle with screen time. The concept of self regulation made so much sense, and somehow demystifies our issues for me and makes them seem more manageable.
The plasma will not leave, I know that, so all I can do is set rules around it's consumption and monitor content. It's may not be approved of by the radical unschooling movement, but like Lauren and her family we pave our own path. After all, one of the main reasons we unschool is so we can do what best works for us, not what others say is best for us.
Anyway, I had some gorgeous lino print fabric left that my brother brought me back from the aboriginal community in Maningrida he worked in for awhile, and I thought "slip cover!" So from now on when the TV isn't on, it looks a little bit more like art, and hopefully it will be a mental block against turning it on...
we'll see if my theory works, but at least it looks nice haha.
Does the TV impact your life, are you TV free?
Yours,
Allana xxx
Good morning friend!
ReplyDeleteWhere do I begin? We used to be a MAJOR 'entertainment'(requiring electricity) family. The vast majority was dictated by my husband who was (emphasis was) a major gamer. Through a series of events he sold his projector and 120 inch screen, returned his brothers x box sold his play station 3's (yes he had two), all of his games, deleted anything he had down loaded and even sold his wheel that he played racing games with.
He has 7 WHOPPER big speakers and now he has 2 for music and a subwoofer as well.
This move SHOCKED many people. They identified my husband with gaming and movie nights. This was just the encouragement he needed. He was/is so much more than that.
He works shift work so when going on to night shift he would have friends over for a "movie night" and stay up for the entire night.
He has broken the habit that all the males in his family have. He has always been 100% present or so we both thought but getting rid of anything shined a big light on 'how' present are we really.
The last thing was.....the plasma. He felt no 'need' to get rid of it (left the decision up to me) but felt that our 7 year old was following in the 'gamer' set of footprints. He had developed a bad attitude to doing chores or really helping/participating in any way. So, now we have a bit of work ahead of us!
Long story short we did decide to keep the TV but do not watch ANY movies or television shows on it. We have never watched TV shows (ABC kids shows = blergh) or had the tv on at all during day time hours BUT we did let them watch DVD's (90% of the time after the house was tidied at the end of the day).
I found if Ben was on afternoon shift I would put DVD's on. Convicted with the realization that this was so I could slack off and not have to interact with my children this has now stopped.
I really don't like labels but we would probably be classified as an unschoolers too (I never call myself that).
We have apple tv and we watch many interesting shot clips from you tube. With so many children crowding around a computer screen especially when they are older would be a bit silly.
We have also already paid for the tv so....now is the battle of WHERE to put it!
We have re organized the lounge room so the chairs don't point towards the tv like a shrine but we too look for a solution to have it kind of hidden.
I hope my answer wasn't too long! My husband was the one who had the change of heart. It served as a distraction and whilst he played when the kids were in bed mostly he realised how lonely I was getting as he was captivated.
Unfortunately, we all love a bit of TV. We do have guidelines though, and I must say my kids play together and get along much better when the TV is off.
ReplyDeleteWe have a TV, but usually when the kiddos are with me I try do to stuff with them. Or if we are watching TV, I try to watch it with them and we talk about things and I try to relate it to real life.
ReplyDeleteLike anything that is really not that great for you, it's better when it's gone. We are on about the sixth week of no tv and we are doing fine in fact we are doing great. Nobody even asks when is it coming back. We found it really hard to moniter and set limits, as it is so easy to switch on. We do watch some ABC on i veiw and I find that to be enough. Also seeing as the computer is in our kitchen dining area I can see and moniter the content of what they are watching.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, I do like your solution and think the slip cover is great.
Whilst I wish I had a slip cover half as fancy as yours, our TV is hung on the wall so one wouldn't 'slip' over!! Having said that though, we are pretty good with regs here. I've always done the same rules (except when the kids are sick, when it almost stays on all day!) they get 1 hour a day. Usually it's one particular show they all sit and watch together, but generally we do alot of music listeniing instead........good luck, keep us posted!!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had a tv since moving into the hut last June. At first we missed it, but the longer you go without it the easier it is (as we are unaware of what we are missing). We do have iPads which are probably just as bad, but we can watch movies and our favourite shows on them, and it's a real treat now!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had tv for four years next month and I can honestly say I do not miss it at all. I cannot speak for my husband though, as he couldn't wait to go out and purchase a flat screen LED teo years ago which now sits in the sunroom and only gets turned on once in a blue moon when we may watch a documentary on DVD. Best thing is we don't have tv reception where we live so we can't watch tv full stop. Makes me very happy it does. PS I love your screen cover, it looks fabulous.
ReplyDeletei thought about making a cover like this too! i hate the tv. anything i want to watch is usually on sbs or abc so i can view, with out adds, in my own time online. but my man loooooves it, especially the crap shows, so now i just avoid the lounge room altogether
ReplyDelete