Put Down That Remote!
We’ve all heard it. Excessive TV watching is bad for you. You know you do it. You have it on in the evening and end up parked there for longer than you planned. Or maybe you find yourself guilty of parking your toddler in front of it for “just one Blues Clues” while you catch your breath. You’re sometimes tempted to scale back and turn it off more, or even get rid of it, but how would you get by? Don’t you need it to keep up with what’s going on in the world?
(If you happen to be one of the lucky few that is perfectly happy with your TV watching habits, the Simple Dollar offers some financial reasons to consider, while Trash Your TV has some fascinating facts about TV watching statistics.)
As a parent, I’m quite cautious about what my child are being exposed to. I want to be as aware of the potential for damage or danger as I can, and that makes me naturally suspicious of television, the great black box (or flatscreen) of advertising. Because, let’s face it, that’s what it is. At the same time, I can happily veg out in front of it for mindless entertainment in the form of True Blood and Vampire Diaries. The difference between adult viewing and child viewing is that when I watch TV, I’m aware of it’s time-sucking tendencies, unrealistic portrayal of life and ad-driven content. Children are oblivious to this, which is why (in a very simple fashion) TV is so bad for them.
But, the spouse and I like a handful of shows and such, so our household is set up to reschedule TV around our real life, when our daughter is awake. Here’s how we watch no TV during the day:
- Move the TV to a less central location of the house. We technically only have one TV and it’s in a small upstairs area that maybe only seats two or three, via floor chairs and one armchair. Our other TV is a projector in our guest room/office. Neither is convenient enough to just switch on as I go by to justify watching for even a few minutes, which keeps me from being lured in for the afternoon.
- Get a TiVo ($) or other TV recording device. Pre-recording your favorite shows means you can watch them on your own time, and skip the commercials.
- Get Netflix ($) and/or Hulu (free). Another great way to catch up on shows and movies that you like. If you also have TiVo, there’s an added bonus; without seeing commercials, you tend to miss out on all those great (and not so great) shows coming out. But if you get hooked on your friends’ water cooler excitement and want to catch up on a show that’s been running, you can find previous episodes or seasons on Netflix or Hulu.
- Do something else. If you (or your kids) are already hooked on the juice, then find something else to do fast! Draft up a list in advance of things to do (park, museum, library, hiking, etc.) and stick to it. Pick outdoor things as much as possible to reduce the possibility of giving in. Or pick indoor things that are messy (painting, baking, etc.) to give them (or you) a reason not to touch the remote.
