Turned it Off and a Light Bulb Turned On

Can I just say wow, what a crazy week.  What a busy week. What a week of learning.  This week our TV was turned off, a sign was placed on the screen that read, "No TV Week!" and was colored so beautifully by my 4 year old son.  Every once in a while he would open our armoire doors to peak at his handy work but never once did he try to turn the TV on.  We had a good week.

Here are some of the many light bulbs that turned on in my TV-less head:

1. Wow, do I seriously turn the TV on that much?  I started noticing every time my thoughts turned to the TV and realized I would've turned it on now.....and now.....and now.  Really?  The kids are playing nicely by themselves...a few minutes of Mommy screen time.  Folding laundry....a few more minutes of Mommy screen time. Or I need to get this done really quick...children screen time.  Or I need to make a quick call.....a few minutes turned to full show of children's screen time.  It really adds up, little by little and I was amazed at how often my natural tendencies gravitated to that little on button.
2. I got a housekeeper.  Seriously, push the off button on your TV for a week and watch your house whip into shape.  It is quite amazing. My house is the cleanest it has been in a long, long while.  Yes, I did have the motivation of guests coming on Friday but I also devoted more time to it without the distraction of the TV and the kids joined in as well. 
3. My kids are friends.  They ACTUALLY like each other. Really they do.  There were still moments of an 17 month old's squeals from a brother's "love" but they played together way, WAY more than I have seen them play, I think EVER.  And they laughed.  I loved running to a room filled with laughter to soak it in rather than running to rescue a little girl in tears. TV off meant for good old fashion fun for siblings (it also helped that their rooms were clean and the toys organized and ready for little hands and eyes to find them easily.)
4. Did we really miss anything?  Does it really matter that I missed watching Rachael Ray make her meal that looks yummy but I know I'll never make it?  Does it really matter that I didn't see that cute craft on Studio 5 that looks awesome but again I wouldn't spend the money or the time to make it myself?  Does it really matter that I didn't see some soon to be "idol" perform?  Does it matter that my son didn't see Curious George get into trouble and somehow get out of it once again?  Yes, actually it does matter. Why?  Because all of that time was spent with one another and making our home a more enjoyable place to be.  We didn't miss a thing.
5. Conference is the best 8 hours of TV we could ever watch  (more thoughts on wonderful General Conference coming soon in an upcoming post).
6. Lastly,  our TV world is about to go through a whirlwind of change.  We haven't finalized exactly how it is going to pan out but big changes are to come and it will be good.

Yea, for No TV Week.  I learned a lot in our last two TV fasts but this time something different happened.  Something changed in me and now something is going to change for our family.

How do you regulate TV time at your house?  What have you done to make sure it is not over-used?  Have any of you gotten rid of your TV all together?  If so, how did your children respond and how did your life change?

3rd Semi-Annual No TV Week

So a year ago we held our first "NO TV WEEK" at our house and decided to make it a tradition and now we are going on our 3rd go at no tv for a week. There are actually two official no tv weeks one on April 19-25 and the other September 19-25.  So officially "NO TV WEEK" will begin in a few weeks but for us it is going to begin this Sunday. We have decided that our week (almost a week) of no tv would be the week just before conference.  So from Sunday-Friday no watching tv. Then the first thing that we'll watch at the close of our television fast will be General Conference on Saturday and Sunday.

During our "1st Semi-Annual No TV Week" I realized many things:

1. Many times when I turned the tv on there was something else that I should've been doing.
2. I used the television as a babysitter way too often.
3. I had my attention divided between the tv, the laundry (or some other task), and my kids rather than just being with them.
4. The TV was my first go to when I was board, tired, or plain lazy.
5. Having minimal external voices filling our home helped to prepare us to hear the word of the Lord at Conference.

These are all things I realized the first time but  because I need reminders I am glad to hold this week of no television and awaken myself to our new or continued tv habits.

So please, FEEL FREE TO JOIN US IN OUR

3rd SEMI-ANNUAL NO TV WEEK - March 27 - April 1
(Leave a comment at let us know if you plan to join in the fun,
this may serve as a little extra motivation and accountability in following through.)

And just in case you need even a little more motivation read these quotes from a previous post or click on the following links to read two complete posts:

I challenge us to change this stat within the walls of our homes:
"American children and adolescents (and I'd add some adults) spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."-- The Kaiser Family Foundation

And far too often those hours spent are in watching programs that are far from uplifting:
“Again I say, leave it alone. Turn it off, walk away from it, burn it, erase it, destroy it. I know it is hard counsel we give when we say movies that are R-rated, and many with PG-13 ratings, are produced by satanic influences. Our standards should not be dictated by the rating system. I repeat, because of what they really represent, these types of movies, music, tapes, etc. serve the purposes of the author of all darkness.”
-Elder H. Burke Peterson

What a bold statement that a lot of the media out there is "produced by satanic influences" and "serve the purposes of the author of all darkness". It is scary to think that we often are allowing satan to be our entertainer. We are allowing him to keep us company, to make us laugh, and to fill our minds with his filth. We must be so careful to not allow the rating system to determine our standards but allow our conscience and our personal standards to do so.  And sometimes Satan is simply striving to make us idle away our time and distract us from what is most important.


TV, Television, the Tube, Flat Screen?
A Little Experiment

And while you're televisions are off you'll have plenty of time to prepare your family for conference.  I will have a Pre-General Conference post coming sometime this weekend.

2nd Semi-Annual No TV Week

So 6 months ago we held "NO TV WEEK" at our house and decided to make it a tradition.  There are actually two official no tv weeks on April 19-25 and the other September 19-25.  So officially "NO TV WEEK" is about to end but for us it is just about to begin. We have decided that our week (almost a week) of no tv would be the week just before conference.  So from Sunday-Friday no watching tv. Then the first thing that we'll watch at the close of our television fast will be General Conference on Saturday and Sunday.

During our "1st Semi-Annual No TV Week" I realized many things:

1. Many times when I turned the tv on there was something else that I should've been doing.
2. I used the television as a babysitter way too often.
3. I had my attention divided between the tv, the laundry (or some other task), and my kids rather than just being with them.
4. The TV was my first go to when I was board, tired, or plain lazy.
5. Having minimal external voices filling our home helped to prepare us to hear the word of the Lord at Conference.

Now funny thing is that I just wrote those all in past-tense. Ha!  I am still has lazy and selfish has I was 6 months ago and that, my friends, is why this is a Semi-Annual event and who knows one day it may become a more frequent one.  I definitely need reminders. :)

So please, FEEL FREE TO JOIN US IN OUR

2nd SEMI-ANNUAL NO TV WEEK - September 26 - October 1
(Leave a comment at let us know if you plan to join in the fun,
this may serve as a little extra motivation and accountability in following through.)

And just in case you need even a little more motivation read these quotes from a previous post or click on the following links to read two complete posts:

I challenge us to change this stat within the walls of our homes:
"American children and adolescents (and I'd add some adults) spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."-- The Kaiser Family Foundation

And far too often those hours spent are in watching programs that are far from uplifting:
“Again I say, leave it alone. Turn it off, walk away from it, burn it, erase it, destroy it. I know it is hard counsel we give when we say movies that are R-rated, and many with PG-13 ratings, are produced by satanic influences. Our standards should not be dictated by the rating system. I repeat, because of what they really represent, these types of movies, music, tapes, etc. serve the purposes of the author of all darkness.”
-Elder H. Burke Peterson

What a bold statement that a lot of the media out there is "produced by satanic influences" and "serve the purposes of the author of all darkness". It is scary to think that we often are allowing satan to be our entertainer. We are allowing him to keep us company, to make us laugh, and to fill our minds with his filth. We must be so careful to not allow the rating system to determine our standards but allow our conscience and our personal standards to do so.  And sometimes Satan is simply striving to make us idle away our time and distract us from what is most important.


TV, Television, the Tube, Flat Screen?
A Little Experiment

And while you're televisions are off you'll have plenty of time to prepare your family for conference.  I will have a Pre-General Conference post coming sometime this weekend.