Saturday night my husband and I had a wonderful date night enjoying the sounds of Lelia Broussard and Alexa Wilkinson in State College. When we came home, Breaden told us that the T.V. was no longer working, as some water had apparently spilled in an unfortunate location. As it was rather late, we decided to just deal with it in the morning.
You have to know a little something about me before I continue: I have often said I wish we would just get rid of the T.V. altogether. We already don't have cable, choosing instead to spend money on some wonderful (and carefully chosen) dvd's, even educational ones at that; yet sometimes even these can too easily become a crutch, substituting our precious family time for T.V. time, and tempting us to succombe to the in-house "sitter" far more often than we should. And I won't even get into the video games...Anyway, this has been my own personal conviction, and I was doubtful if anyone else in the family felt the same.
So, Sunday afternoon, after considering our options: including bringing my spare tele. back from the church youth center, my husband said something to me that made my heart swoon. "What do you say we do a 30 day fast from television?!" I'll let you guess what my response was to that :)
So, I am delighted this Tuesday afternoon. The girls played with 15 different puzzles today..yes, it was at the same time, but it's a start of something new! Last night, Shawn and I taught each other card games and just talked. I like the feeling of simplicity this choice is offering us already!
I realize that there will be times in the coming weeks where this will be more challenging, especially considering the new school year which we're about ready to start. Still, I may never have been offered this type of opportunity again, and I was sure not going to let a little inconvenience stand in my way! This may be just what we need to gain some much needed balance and order in our home.
A few things I will be doing instead of pushing that little "on" button:
-Picking up my guitar and playing some songs with the kids
-Sitting the kids at the table with some washable paints and paper for a quiet time activity
-Reading more stories together, and play more games
-Spending more time enjoying the outdoors with the family while it's still so nice out
-Spending more quality time with my husband at night (insert wink here) :)
Have you ever given up T.V. or thought about it? What are some things you would do instead?