1 year later - our TV free experiment

It's been a year since our T.V. was plugged into a wall and about 11 months since I've seen it as we sold it on craigslist last summer. At first the idea of selling the Time Vacuum seemed ridiculous to me. What if we really want to watch something? Can't we just keep it and not turn it on? It was my husband pushing for this change and I was still in the "everything in moderation camp".

While we both could see educational benefits to programming on PBS and other learning channels found on cable stations we had become increasingly discontent with the amount of advertising and the content of a lot of the programming. I still had my favorite prime-time shows but when pushed to really examine them I had to admit that yes they were on the trashy side. In the early years of our marriage, we went through phases of watching and not watching and we didn't pay for cable so it wasn't costing us anything.

Like pretty much every major change in the last year the final push to get rid of the time vacuum was having our daughter Sarah. The American Academy of Pediatrics had issued a statement saying that children under two should get zero screen time. They cited the rapidly changing images as re-hardwiring the way a child's brain worked and linking it to ADD and ADHD later in childhood. Here is an article on the study: http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers
Having taken educational psychology courses in my college years this article re-enforced a lot of what I had learned.

When we talked about getting rid of the T.V. a few people thought it was a good idea; they too got sucked in to watching when they didn't really have time. Some of my friends however told me I would regret it (or later change my mind), the ONLY way they could make dinner was to put on Curious George. It didn't sit right with me that I would risk my daughter's brain development so I could have an easier time making dinner. So 6 weeks after she was born out it went. Would I miss it?

Surprisingly no.

In the past year I have spent many evenings cuddled up with my baby without the distraction of the T.V. I have also revisited many of my old hobbies and learned new ones. I joined cafemom's sewing diaper divas group and learned how to make my own cloth diapers. I pulled out an old manuscript that I always believed had potential but never "had time" to write (I have now FINISHED my rough draft). I have cooked tons and tons of vegetarian food, walked miles upon miles and even read a few books. My hubby has also done a great deal of cooking and cycling and completed his first 100K last fall. He intends on riding a century this fall. I still find myself super busy, these "hobbies" are usually only given a few minutes here or there and honestly when I talk to new parents who do watch shows on a regular basis I wonder how they even have the time.

We take everything "one day at a time." Sometimes I wonder if we will ever go back to owning a T.V. At this point I would say it seems doubtful. As Sarah (and any future siblings) get older we plan on watching DVD's, perhaps on the computer. We know there is educational and entertainment value in media but we plan on using it in a limited way without all the commercials.