We are an oddity compared to nearly everyone around us. It has been nearly one year since we had our satellite shut off. It began as a way to save money for college classes. It turned into a way to just save money when my husband was out of work. We still don't want to spend the money to have our television on, but we aren't fretting over it.
We do have movies. My two year old loves Veggietales, Dora, and Blue's Clues. We have a few of those dvds. We have some movies. We even use Netflix, which I love. We watch old fashioned television shows on dvd. Our favorite is Little House on the Prairie. However, for the most part, we don't watch the typical line up on television.
There is a couple shows I miss that I enjoyed. Ironically, I could watch them online and I always forget. I guess I don't miss them as much as I thought. In our home, we have other things to do. We read, we play games, we have family devotions. My oldest told me that she has no intention of having television when she gets older. She doesn't see the point in having all the controversial stuff coming through a box into her home just to watch a couple shows she likes.
Do we ever miss TV? Television was nice at times. I liked the variety of programming. I may not of watched most of it, but I liked having the choice. For the most part I don't think about it much. We are too busy leading our lives.
No television has helped my family out quite a bit in the closeness we share. My kids used to veg in front of the tv quite a bit. Now, that isn't an option. We do share rented programs together, but not daily. It's something we do here and there. When we watch something, like a movie or rented tv show, it is watched and we are done. We don't spend nights zoning out in front of the television anymore. A couple hours or so watching what we want and we are done. There are no commercials. There is no questionable programming. It is what we choose to view.
I realize this isn't a decision that everyone would agree with. I do think everyone should consider at least a television fast once in awhile. I see that my children don't have to be entertained every second. They are learning to entertain themselves. I find I am more at peace without the constant drone in the background of this show or that. My daughters aren't obsessed with the current pop shows and stars on Disney or Nickelodeon. There are no shows where kids are mouthing off and being disrespectful to parents. My teens aren't watching teen actors playing roles where they are engaging in behavior we don't agree with. They hear and see enough of that in the lives of their friends. Teenage sex, drugs, drinking, and criminal activity is not being glamorized or even shown as normal. Images of violence aren't streaming though the screen into the minds and hearts of my family.
Life as we know it is a little different than those of many of our friends. Even most of our Christian friends have television. Some have guardians to protect the programming, some don't. Some are very discerning about what they watch, some aren't. For me, this started as a financial thing. Now, if we did get television back, there would be drastic limits and protections put into place. It is just too easy to sit mindlessly in front of a television and let the little screen (Or big screen) entertain you. I am not content with that anymore.
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