tell me your favorite thing about not having the TV front and center!

[peaceful_mama]

So I'm *finally* giving in to DH's desire to not have a TV front and center in the living room. We have agreed on a compromise, a TV that is brought out for specific shows/times. I AM keeping our DVR because that is how I get to watch what I want to watch. I have become a HUGE fan of not wasting my time just watching whatever happens to be on. (and I'm not willing to give up Grey's Anatomy, which is not a show I watch when the kids are awake.)

The plan is that it will only come out after bedtime. Other than that time, TV is only available to my mom in her own room and since it will likely be stored in my room, there I guess. (I'll have to figure out how the DVR box will be on and programmable to record, yet not on a fixed-location set?? Or do I put it on my mom's TV and move it when I want it??)

The TV is not working today, and it was really nice...my mom, for the first time in AGES actually sat down with DS1 and did some activities with him in an activity book. So did I, when he requested a turn with me. The fact that *they* were doing that is huge. and that the kids found stuff to do away from the box!

[peainthepod]

The list is endless, really. I grew up in a house with a TV in every room except the bathrooms and formal living room, so I have a pretty good basis for comparison. DH and I don't own a TV at all and never have; we occasionally watch movies on a laptop or, once in a blue moon, the overhead digital projector we've set up downstairs.

What do I like about not having a TV front and center?

-Your furniture arrangements aren't centered around where the cable cord is. You can actually have chairs and a couch facing each other, like, for conversational purposes. Your couch can face a picture window or the fireplace instead of the television. It just looks better and makes for much more comfortable living.

-You don't have to look at an ugly appliance every time you turn your head. I hate TVs and think even the sleeker, flat ones are nasty to look at. Now I don't have to.

-There's no temptation to kill time with mindless television. You have to work to put something on, which makes you less likely to do it out of boredom.

-There's more room on the walls for bookshelves and art.

-You never ever have to deal with house guests coming in and turning on your TV out of habit. You never have to wake up to the sound of a blaring television, or endure the sound of TV during a meal, or hear that awful low-pitched humming sound that all TVs make and that you don't really notice until you don't have one anymore. Your guests actually have to find something else to do, like talk to you and each other, or play with the little ones, or go outside and take a walk, or read that interesting coffee table book. I can't count how many times our house guests have sheepishly commented that they find our home so much more relaxing and peaceful because there's no TV available.

-Your child's first instinct isn't to ask to watch TV. It's easier to redirect if they do ask to watch a DVD or movie. You're less likely to use the TV as a babysitter. You're less likely to find your child watching something that's wildly inappropriate for children or zoning out for hours in front of trash "programming". (Ever wonder why they call it "programming"? Yikes.)

Congratulations on taking such a healthy step for your family! Like any addiction, TV can be hard to kick, but once you do it you'll be amazed that you ever wasted so much time on it.

[samstress]

all the time we spend doing other things (dancing, playing in the yard, listening to music, playing board games, just being silly...). i find, when there's a tv in the house, it's just too easy to turn it on.

[rumi]

I love having a quiet living room. We just ditched cable 2 weeks ago and put a cloth over the TV. haven't turned it on since, though we have nothing against putting on a DVD. just havent gone around to it yet.

... and I agree it is nice that guests can't come in and absent-mindedly turn it on (I think it must be some kind of reflex action when they see a remote control)

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by rumi

... and I agree it is nice that guests can't come in and absent-mindedly turn it on (I think it must be some kind of reflex action when they see a remote control)

Holy Crap Batman, do people actually do this?

As far as the TV goes, it means that my family pays more attention to one another. Last night for example after the kid went to sleep at about 9, DH and I sat on the porch and chatted for a couple of hours. Moments like that are awesome, and I have no doubt that if we had a TV we would have watched it instead because we were tired.

[abbylotus]

We own one television and it has it's own room and not in our living room. I agree with the other poster who mentioned they way you can arrange furniture to stimulate conversation, have more area for art and books but best of all, you don't have that big ugly appliance sticking out like an eyesore!

[SubliminalDarkness]

We're now completely TV-free. The only digital entertainment we have is our computer(DH and I each have a laptop). We do watch streaming Netflix, but that's pretty rare because it's hard for me to have the patience to sit down and watch a whole movie. 30 minute TV shows are genius, really, because they're just long enough without being too long. But then one rolls into the next, and you quickly find you've wasted a whole lot of time! 

I don't really think there's anything I don't like about not having life revolve around TV. I do miss being able to let the kids sit on the couch with popcorn and watch a movie on a weekend night. We sometimes do it in our bed on one of the computers, but it's not quite the same.