Sunday, August 17, 2008

Out of Control

I have been struggling with something for the past week and I thought it might be interesting to get some feedback from the 8 of you out there who read this blog. Last month we called the satellite company and asked them to suspend our service. Yep that is right NO MORE TV! Why you ask? Simple, our 6 year old son and television don't mix. Well actually they do mix and quite well for that matter but when it comes to TV our son has a love/hate relationship. He LOVES the television and HATES anyone or anything that comes between him and the TV. I considered myself to be a pretty good mother when it came to monitoring the television. It was not on all day. Only certain times; when I was cooking a meal, or had a project for work that needed to get done was he allowed to watch. We also used it as a reward when he would do his chores. However after constantly fighting with him over the TV, I was done. My son is a TV addict. He wanted to watch it every moment of the day, he would hide the remotes from me and secretly go and watch if I was somewhere else in the house. He would even try and stick his head of of the bathroom while he was taking care of business so he could still see the TV. I can't tell you how many times I found him lying in the doorway of the bathroom looking at the TV with his bare bottom in the air! The worst was the tantrums he would throw when we made him turn it off. So we decided no more.

However this decision was made in haste. Not only did we prevent him from watching the TV we also cut ourselves off! I turned off the TV right before the Olympics (for me) and fall football (for Tata). I tried to watch the Olympics online for a couple of days. Isn't it frustrating to watch a sporting event when you already know what happened? Do you know how many races I missed of Phelps? I saw Gymnastics online but the video kept pausing. So frustrating. What do we do cave in and get the TV back on? Do we just have it on for the Olympics? Then what happens when fall football comes on? I am sure then we will need it on in the winter for something else. I know as adults we can live without the TV. In fact it has been very nice not to have it on. I've talked to my hubby a lot more and we have been creative in finding other things to do.


For anyone who knows me they know what a big fan I am of the Olympics. I have to watch every event I can. I love to hear the stories of triumph and the celebration of the Olympic spirit. I can recite the creed which is; "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Do I follow this creed and deal with my struggle of missing the Olympics all for the sacrifice of the well being of my son?

*We couldn't take it anymore and got rabbit ears for our bedroom TV, we just get the local stations (which are showing the Olympics) but thankfully the kids don't know yet. To them the TV is still broken!

9 comments:

Stuck on U said...

WOW! do you even know how much we have in common. Derick is addicted to the tv as well. I say keep on keeping without the tv. There will always be something that is on that you want to watch, but it is really peaceful without the tv. It will be hard at first, but well worth it when it is one less bill and no more tantrums! YEAH you are doing the right thing!

Jessica said...

You are very brave! I know how you feel. This summer with no friends to play with, my kids have been the same way!. But I found a solution with Directv which is the company we are with. They have a lock that you can set up to only when you want anyone watching the tv. I have mine set up so that it will still record, but that the kids can't have it on. With school starting I have mine set up to only come on at 5:00, which is usually when I begin dinner so it keeps them occupied for a time, but then it shuts off after an hour. Not sure if your satellite company has something like this, but check. I would die without t.v. and especially the olympics!

Mommy Madness said...

We haven't had TV at all since we moved into our house... not even rabbit ears. It's been hard sometimes, but we either watch movies or hang out. I've been reading a lot, too. My kids used to start a movie and then walk out to play in the other room. It seemed like our TV was ALWAYS on. Jess made the decision to not hook up the rabbit ears, but I'm glad we didn't. It's been a lot more quiet around my house.

John Ivie said...

I think what your doing with the tv (and the rabbit ears in the bedroom) is great! I wish I had the courage to do it! Someday:-)

winspears said...

You are a very brave woman! I love the idea about locking the T.V until only certain times of the day! Hats of to you Amy! I need my bowl of popcorn and favorite show at the end of a crazy day!

(I guess I should try actually reading...but I never seem to have a quiet place to hide.)

Buffy said...

We did the same thing. Dish network has just local channels for like $10 a month, and it includes BYU TV so you can still watch conference. We also pay for the $5 DVR so we can still tape our shows. (Biggest Loser,and Wipeout) We havn't missed it. The kids watch PBS, but only for one hour a day. Just FYI, you won't miss it either.

Janell said...

Good for you Mom to stick to your guns! Tv is such a crazy thing. I think I have a love/hate relationship too. We used to spend oodles of money on HD and digital cable and then found out we could live with out it and we have the basic channels only the cheapest thing you can get $13. It makes us happy and we watch a lot less TV. We have TV tokens for our kids, they earn them, but it's such a personal choice on what you do and I would never think you are a bad mom/person if you brought the tv back either! Glad you got to see some of the Olympics!

HollySomm said...

I'm so proud of your strength. I definitely know how hard it was to get Vai to turn off the tv or let him give someone else the choice of what they wanted to watch. I felt so bed for letting him watch so much when i babysat. But in order to keep peace with the three of them it was all i could do. The boys would watch tv while Girly and i baked cookies. When i come back i'll have to give it a shot without the tv. Don't worry, i won't tell them your little secret. hehe.

Elizabeth said...

Maybe I'm late (I haven't checked in lately) but I vote to leave it off. After awhile you won't even miss it, and if you really need some louging time in front of the TV, join Netflix and veg out to your favorite movies or sitcoms. You'll be happy with all the extra time you have!