Weekly Challange (TV Free)

A few years back I decided to take a big step and go TV free. We started slowly, just cutting back on the amount of time we watched and then limiting it to just videos/DVDs. My children were young and happy to engage in other activities, especially if they involved me. Slowly we just phased it completely out. Now I have a TV sitting in my living room, covered by a quilt, and I don't know the last time we actually watched the darn thing. I keep waiting for it to finally die (it has to be over 15 years old) so that I can get rid of it. But unlike most products in our country this one seems built to last.

So there it sits. On a shelf that could be used for so many other things....(like all those books I have stored in a closet that I keep hoping I'll be able to find a bookshelf for someday).. And I wonder about why I haven't just gotten rid of it. What is causing me to hold on to it? I'll admit, I use it every now and then. I consider myself TV free, but yes, every now and then we watch a movie. Once a month or so. However I do have a fabulous computer and a 24" monitor... we could just as easily watch movies on it. (Which is exactly what we had to do the last time we watched a DVD we picked up at the library (The Parent Trap- the original version-I just love that show!) as it wouldn't play on the television anyway! ) So what is it that is causing me to hesitate in the removal of it from my home?

As TV Turn off week approached I contemplated just getting rid of it. But something keept me from embracing this idea fully. I'm still pondering what this hesitation is about.

What is it about the idea of having NO television our home that makes me pause?

Is it concern over my children being a bit too different from their friends? Having school age children is so very different from having toddlers or preschoolers. At that age it was so much easier... they had so much less awareness of how others live or that urge to fit in. Now I'm experiencing first hand that struggle children go through to be liked, to be normal, to find out who they are and how they fit into the world. We also attend public school. I love our school. It's so full of opportunity, offers such diversity, and in general I'm very pleased with our experience there. But our family is different from so many of my childrens friends families. As important as my "green" values are I also must weigh each choice I make. I must balance out my beliefs and the lifestyle I am choosing for us to live with making sure that I don't inadvertently do harm to my children. While being unique and different and standing behind values are wonderful attributes and learning opportunities for my children, I also recognize that it can make life difficult for them. To be seen as too different or weird by their peers could in the end cause more damage emotionally than the harm done by watching a few hours of television a week. And not having a TV at all... well, that's a bit unusual around here. I have to be careful not to make my childrens lives so different from their peers that it's not enjoyable to others. I want their friends to spend time with us, and if the playdates are at my place then monitoring their media intake is a whole lot easier :).

Or is this hesitation due to my lingering attachment to it? Is it the idea that if I get rid of it there is no going back? Right now there's this knowledge in the back of my mind that if we ever needed or wanted it we can have it. But if it's gone... then what? Perhaps it's attached to that bigger fear of letting go. Of saying good-bye to something that his always been part of your life.

And maybe it's also a bit of pride. Right now it's a choice. We have it available but choose to not use it. We read, play, draw, etc instead of turning on the tube. But if it's gone, well, then so is the choice. Granted it will be a choice to get rid of it, but once it's gone it's like saying we have to do those other things. So maybe I like the idea of being able to say no to it instead of having to say no to it.

When I first started this post it was with the intention of a goal of actually removing it from our home altogether. But as I've written and pondered this the past few days, I'm now reconsidering that decision.

I'm finding that living a simpler lifesyle is not always a simple matter. It often involves change, a bit of discomfort while you adjust to something different or new, sometimes serious contemplation and definitely an ability to weather unwanted input and feedback from others. Learning to swim against the tide of our American culture is no easy task!

I'd love to hear from you about how you have handled similar situations, be it with regards to your children and simplifying your lives or with internal struggles you may have had in trying to make some change.