TN

pete gave me a new nickname this morning. the nickname was "TN". it stands for "TV Nazi". it's fitting. perhaps i should've nicknamed myself this as a pre-adolescent. i've always been a "TV Nazi" in a way. i remember never loving the feeling of just sitting and watching tv; i always thought it was boring. i even tried to force myself to get into the show "Beverly Hills 90210", but after a few episodes i realized it wasn't me and was really just a waste of my time.

i apparently have not lost this attribute; it has carried over with my children, and i am trying desperately to not use the tv as an entertainment staple. i can't help it, almost every time i turn on the tv for them i feel like i'm depriving them of an opportunity to create, play, or imagine, and that's just not a good feeling for me. if my children are constantly entertained with tv when they get bored, how will they learn to entertain themselves with their brains? i believe they won't if they have the entertainment world fulfilling that boredom with just a push of a button. don't misread me, i don't think tv is all bad; there are some very educational and entertaining shows to watch on occasion. i just dislike how tv can creep right in and start controlling the quality of family life, not just with our children. pete and i have a horrible habit of turning on the tv as soon as we get our kids in bed and most of the time falling asleep in front of some mind numbing show which means a lot of time we don't go to bed together. this is certainly an interference to our relationship. the time could be so much better spent talking, reading together, creating, or just being together and awake.

it's not just the wasted time that bothers me. i recently read that toy manufacturers spend $16 billion per year on advertising directly to children. that disturbs me. i know that no one can be completely immune to marketing forces, but i do believe that the less exposure a child has to media, especially television, the less vulnerable they will be to advertising messages. as long as i'm the parent i want the message in my home to be that we have enough; i don't want some manufacturer's dollar to influence my family that we always need more useless STUFF. that is a message that is immensely important to me, and if i can't send it now, then what makes me think i can send it later.

i had a good little breakdown about it today and decided it was time to for action in my family. we are nominating a "no tv week". i'm not throwing it out forever; however, i'm hoping to just throw out the bad habits that we have fallen into and start fresh to establish better habits later. a detox if you will. if you believe in this purpose, then i encourage you to designate this as a "no tv week". this would be a great time; some of your younger kids will have older siblings home from school for thanksgiving break. what a perfect time to pull out all the family games you've been accumulating with the best of intentions of spending time together? what about getting outside together? going to the library? cook something? playing with family that may be around for the holiday? or better yet... why not let your kids spend their time figuring out how to entertain themselves? if you get too desperate for a shower without a visitor in the bathroom, then check out some books on tape from the library and let your children listen to a story instead of turning on the tv. it can be done, and i'm certain you will be more than satisfied with the results.

i was satisfied with our results today. sam asked to watch "a bug's life". i explained we were taking a break from watching tv and that he would need to find something else to do. i was more than impressed with what he came up with. he spent about 45 minutes doing these things all of his own thinking.... drawing pictures for his cousin emily then cutting them into a puzzle and stuffing them into a homemade envelope, laying out maps all over the floor and charting courses to all the places he wants to go, playing with matching cards, and sorting buttons into his own patterns (big, bigger, and small). without a doubt i know that fed his brain far more than "a bug's life" would have, and that's my hope for my children.



try it, i know you can do it, too. it may be overwhelming at first, and i can guarantee that there will be far more messes for you and children to clean up. i am convinced it will be worth it. make the pledge and do it with us. if you want to spread the message, then post it on your blog, too. post your experience, too. i will be anxious to see how it goes for you. check back for our progress, too. and here's to a "no tv week"!!