Today I’m sharing why we decided to cut our cable. When we were newly married we had every station known to cable. We felt obligated to sit in front of the tv whenever we were home because we were paying for it. Paying a lot for it. One day we decided No Cable.
We were cable free for a long time before we moved to a new city and had it all set up again. Boy were we couch tators all over again. The boy (at the time 3yrs old) was hooked on tv. He’d wake up at 4am asking to watch Thomas the Tank Engine. He’d cry when we’d turn it off.
We were spending more time beside one another than engaged with one another. It was proximity time not quality time.
No Cable
A few years ago we purchased a flat screen tv and felt justified for all the television time, but that feeling faded quick. We tried to “manage” our television time and only use it as a reward. But when you’re paying over $100/month for it you feel like you should be using it. Using it a lot. And when there was nothing “good” on 100 channels it was frustrating!
When the boys started to get a little older we noticed how shows were changing. No strong father figures (they were there but just the butt of all jokes), blatant sexual innuendos, a lot of single families, attitude / disrespect from kids being tolerated, and raunchy commercials. We made the decision to cancel our service, again. The service lady had the hardest time understanding why we’d cut cable without moving.
It was a short adjustment for my kids, but when we started having game night, evening walks, Nerf wars, art night, more sunset boat rides, bike rides, and reading stories together … it wasn’t a big deal.
We have Netflix and I’m so thankful for no commercials. We enjoy family movie night, classic series I grew up with as a kid, and the educational documentaries. As a homes educator I can not stress how much we enjoy the documentaries. The boy loved Liberty Kids. I will say when hubs travels (160 days last year), we watch an old movie or episode every night to break up our long days. (and yes, we turn on the tv in hotel rooms).
Since I’ve been working from home I schedule conference calls and allow the kids to watch a show while I’m on the phone. Not first thing every morning, all day, or all night. The television isn’t a babysitter. It was for me when I was a kid and my mom worked from home. I would watch every afternoon program until dinner, and then every evening show until bedtime. I don’t want to make the same mistake with my kids.
I’d love to hear what you do together as a family rather than watch tv?!
*this post is not to bash any family who does have cable, but rather explain why we do not.
* affiliate
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