Yipee....

As the weeks continue I find myself more and more alright with this new arrangement.

Who would of dreamed in a million years that my family would have the TV turned off ? Not me.

Just truly goes to show you what we can live without. I think we are such a society of need..we need this we need that.. but truly when it comes down to it do we really? And is it healthy for us ? 

Makes me stop and think what else we could get rid of to better our surroundings?

Like our basement,I look around and it is so full of stuff it makes me wonder why? Who needs three floors of stuff? Maybe if I truly get inspired today I will attack that mountain. I think I would like to live in a "Yurt" it has one room and is round. Can you imagine if you were moving into a one room place what would you take with you? 

If this journey has been anything it has been a journey of discovery. 

The choices I have????

I do believe we are doing really good with this. I feel good about it and the choices we have made so far.

We actually watched a program last night "When calls the heart" and we were all able to watch it without mutes and awkward situations.

Now we are back to our no TV Monday and it is funny how I find myself almost looking forward to it.

Not one person has asked how much longer until our month is done or really complained at all for that matter.

We live a pretty pioneer electronic lifestyle...financially we have had to. We choose to live on one income and do at home schooling.

Our girls do not have cell phones and Paul and I only have talking no texting. 

The two older girls have a laptop that is school issued but the younger one uses a desk top.

Funny how with all that we are still way behind.

I sometimes wish for a cabin in the hills and self-sufficient living but then after the glam part 

would go away the everyday hard survival work would begin. No matter if you have a lot or a little we are all spoiled.

I still have 5 of my library books to go through?? Tonight I may learn about the Hopi Indians or learn some new Crohn's facts (My middle daughter suffers with Crohn's). The night is wide open with opportunities.

  

Not the same???

Last night we watched some of our favorite shows and for some reason they are not the same. Is it possible to lose your love for TV?

Can not watching it during the week cause you to want to end the relationship permanently?

I guess we will find out.

I even noticed a certain edge we all seemed to have it was not the relaxed feel we have been having during the week.

We were arguing and there was a tension in the room.

Can TV cause that??? I guess we will see what the next weeks bring.

Excited about the library????

Last night my middle daughter and I were ready to call the TV mission off!! We were truly done

without the connection to our TV land.

Then to my surprise my oldest started crying which immediately caught our attention. She was so upset because for her this has been an amazing journey so far and would hate for things to go back.

Earlier in the day when at the therapist with my youngest I for some reason thought she would pat me on the back for our new changes.

Instead she called me back in her office for a private talk and reminded me not to offer too much shelter from anxiety???? I think that truly messed with my head and made me think why am I doing this???

So after the tears were shed and I had a chance to refocus I realized this has been so positive for us...we are laughing more and talking more as a family. Time moves so quickly so spending this priceless time should not be wasted on Television.

We ended the evening by writing lists of all the books we might want at the library today.

We decided that there are so many states we know nothing about??? I picked Kentucky my husband California. Then we started making lists of all the things we have wondered about that we could research 

and learn by simply checking out a book!!! Yes, you can google anything but  there is no better feeling then 

looking through and turning the pages of a book.

So today with my new goggles on I am so excited about going to the library....Just think how much smarter I will be next time I blog..I may even share a fun fact about Kentucky!

I just wanted to.......

Tonight was tough...I just wanted to watch TV!! I missed knowing what the weather was doing (Cold I know not a big surprise). I wanted to see Duck Dynasty even though the thrill is gone since the scandal.

I just really felt like curling up and watching good old trash TV.

I made the mistake and said it out loud and my older daughter who is just loving this new 

lifestyle felt bad I could tell.

We did watch VCR movies..Shirley Temple and Mary Poppins but it truly is not the same.

I think it is ok if for tonight I feel this way.....right? I will be back on track tomorrow,after all I have almost a month left to go.

A month can be a really long time........tick tock tick tock

No tune out???

I guess one issue I have run into so far is the busy aspect of no TV watching.

There are always board games and Barbie playing and more noise then I guess TV.

I guess I never realized how much you actually check out or take a break from life during TV watching.

I guess tonight I am wishing just a little that I was sitting in my comfy chair watching

Agent Shield (one of my favorite shows).

The good side is the mood around here is a positive one as the girls are singing the "Sound of Music" show tunes .

Paul still searches for an antenna to hopefully restore service in the bedroom TV for weekends only of course.

Not sure what day we are on but the journey continues and as long as I learn things along the way it continues to be worth it. 

I'm a winner!!!

Here it is Monday night with no TV....felt a little weird to think about the evening without it almost like

going in a swimming pool with no water.

The good news is here it is 7:00pm and all is well.

I have played two games Candyland and Trouble and guess what won at them both!!!

I told my family that if we were watching TV right now I would not know what a winner I truly was.

Ha Ha feels good I must say.

I guess my oldest daughter wants to challenge me to yet another game so we will see if the streak continues.

It is a little quiet and a little weird but like anything new it takes getting used to.

Will this become the new normal who knows??? Will it help create a more healthy environment who knows?? I can say I am playing games and laughing more.

Let the games begin!!!

Choosing my outcome...

Waking up this morning I usually turn on the news and drink coffee to start my day.

This morning I am choosing how to see the world today...I think the news automatically lets us know how we should see it by the good,bad and ugly that is going on. By not tuning in I get to see it the way I want.

Some may say that is denial but that is alright if denial about the world makes my day brighter so be it!

My husband always says he likes to know whats going on in the world and I am sure many of you would agree with that but as for me I have been in the world for a while now 47 years to be exact and I can pretty much guess what is going on.

 

Weird..........New Normal

Seems funny now to watch TV (we are able to on weekends)

almost like we have lost our taste for it.

Life seems easier somehow...My daughters are drawing and 

working on new projects, we even spent three hours outside building a snow fort.

I think my husband is frustrated only because I had him get rid of HD and the Comcast box in our bedroom. Hopefully the money we save will outweigh the frustration.

As with everything change is hard until it becomes the norm and hopefully this will become just that.

Everyone is being a pretty good sport.

This will be our first week on our new TV plan so we will see what the week brings.

Stay tuned.

Returning the hardware!

This afternoon my husband took back some of our equipment to Comcast. We are not only doing this for our mental health but also our financial budget. We got rid of our much loved DVR and our HD which I think means the picture looks better??? I guess that is true and I suppose next week there will be a HDDD2 and that will make the picture even better then the picture was better before??? You get the point, no wonder America is more obese and watches TV so frequently with life like screens and pictures that suck you in to a world of fantasy.

So now we are not only a weekend only TV family we are down to a 1 TV family!! Which we have not been for a very long time.

We ended up going to the Library today and got so many books about cooking,places to see and books on how to better yourselves financially. With this new plan I will actually have a lot more reading time.

We are all finding fun things to do like my youngest and oldest daughter are acting out the entire Sound of Music movie with barbies. Life continues.....................

Day 2

The rules today change a little since it is the weekend. 

The TV is allowed to be used but only On-Demand shows and Disney channel (kid friendly options only) also movies that are on.

We decided my husband can watch the news downstairs in the mornings on weekdays (he gets up at 3:30 for work) and up in our room on weekends.

My oldest daughter Abi and I are excited about this new adventure and we really believe it will improve our quality of life.

The background to this is two of my youngest daughters have extreme anxiety and currently therapy and medications are not completely doing the trick. As a mom I have to know at the end of the day that I have done everything I can to help them get through this.

TV has become a window into a world that I don't even know anymore.

The constant mention of sex and the violence has gotten more then even a mute button can hide.

If the show we are all gathered around to watch is family friendly then the commercials are sure to delight you with some type of inappropriate view into the dark side.

I remember growing up TV was a way to get us all into the same room at the end of the day so we could laugh eat popcorn and just enjoy each others company. Sadly times have changed so that is why for my family we need to make a change!

Day 1

Last night was our first night of our new TV turn off journey.

I must say the mood around here was very nice and there was truly no complaints heard from anyone.

We decided to have a Family meeting so everyone was on the same page. We spent most the day organizing and cleaning the living room since everything seemed to be centered around TV watching.

I must say I love the living room like this it is very open and gives everyone more space to do whatever.

We spent the first night playing a game my middle daughter invented and then a good old game of Yahtzee.

We ended up the night by watching Aladdin on a VCR player our neighbor gave us.

Basically the night was very low in anxiety and we truly came together as a family and just enjoyed each others company. This might just work!