This is how a typical Sunday afternoon goes at our house.
Lamb 1 turns on the TV when we get home from church and scrolls through the listing to see what time what games are on. We have had our TV almost two years and I have no idea how to do that. I don't need to learn how to do that because Lamb 1 always does it.
Then begins the negotiating for Lamb 1 to try to convince one or both of his brothers to play football or soccer in the backyard. Usually Lamb 1 and 2 play while Lamb 3 stays inside. Lamb 3 watches the game closely enough to yell outside at the Lambs playing outside when there is something exciting happening in the game. Sometimes Lamb 3 plays while Lamb 2 stays inside. The Lambs that are playing outside take frequent breaks to come check on the game. Lamb 3 can't be trusted to tell them when it is almost halftime or end of the game so they have to check themselves.
All afternoon they ask me which team I am cheering for. Usually I could care less. They just can't believe I don't have a favorite team for all the games! They pick which team based on the team colors usually. Lamb 2 cheers for SF because they have gold. Often different Lambs are cheering for different teams.
I never imagined my boys would watch and play football at the same time. It seems to work for our active Lambs though! This is all done with our antenna, we don't even have cable.
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
I can't believe I said this today!
Ewe speaking to the Lambs:
"You may only watch Jeopardy and 1 hour of Antiques Roadshow, that will be plenty of TV for today."
*Lamb 1 likes the once a month that he has Cub Scouts on Wednesday instead of Monday so that he can watch Antiques Roadshow.
"You may only watch Jeopardy and 1 hour of Antiques Roadshow, that will be plenty of TV for today."
*Lamb 1 likes the once a month that he has Cub Scouts on Wednesday instead of Monday so that he can watch Antiques Roadshow.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Ewe's Random Thoughts Today
1. When I took Lamb 2 to therapy yesterday I noticed that the local newspaper was printed on pink paper in honor of breast cancer awareness. The front page story was about same sex marriage.
2. My hometown is known as the city of churches but there are a lot of businesses and restaurants there that are not respectful of women. One of these local restaurants closed here in Boise. There are still a few of these restaurants and businesses here, but no where near the number in my hometown. Guess what they are building in the spot of that closed restaurant here? Chick-Fil-A. Hooray for another Chick-Fil-A!
3. Ram went to the doctor today because his throat is still scratchy. Neither one of us are very good about knowing when we are sick enough to need to go to the doctor. We figured this has gone on long enough that it was time to go. A pastor needs to sound healthy and be able to talk! Of course it was no antibiotics needed, just keep doing the home remedies that he has been doing. I'm still glad he went so we know he doesn't have something contagious.
4. We have been reading aloud a lot of different kinds of books recently. With Ram's sore throat Ewe has been doing all the reading. I plan to blog about some of the books we have recently read.
5. I was feeling guilty that Lamb 1 is in 5th grade and we haven't done any formal grammar study. That is the subject that has been put off during Lamb 2's therapy. I decided to read some books about each part of speech to begin. I picked up A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink-What is a Noun? by Brian Cleary. The Lambs told me they already knew what a noun was and we didn't need to read the book. How did they know what a noun was? From watching Martha Speaks on PBS. We read the book but as they said they all already knew what a noun was. I'm not nearly as worried about Lamb 1 taking his first standardized test in the spring as I was before. Between the Lambs watching Wild Kratts (Science), Cyberchase (Math and Logic), Martha Speaks (Grammar and vocabulary), and Curious George (STEM? sort of a hodgepodge of topics) I think he'll do fine. Yes, the mom the gave up TV for a few years is saying this!
2. My hometown is known as the city of churches but there are a lot of businesses and restaurants there that are not respectful of women. One of these local restaurants closed here in Boise. There are still a few of these restaurants and businesses here, but no where near the number in my hometown. Guess what they are building in the spot of that closed restaurant here? Chick-Fil-A. Hooray for another Chick-Fil-A!
3. Ram went to the doctor today because his throat is still scratchy. Neither one of us are very good about knowing when we are sick enough to need to go to the doctor. We figured this has gone on long enough that it was time to go. A pastor needs to sound healthy and be able to talk! Of course it was no antibiotics needed, just keep doing the home remedies that he has been doing. I'm still glad he went so we know he doesn't have something contagious.
4. We have been reading aloud a lot of different kinds of books recently. With Ram's sore throat Ewe has been doing all the reading. I plan to blog about some of the books we have recently read.
5. I was feeling guilty that Lamb 1 is in 5th grade and we haven't done any formal grammar study. That is the subject that has been put off during Lamb 2's therapy. I decided to read some books about each part of speech to begin. I picked up A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink-What is a Noun? by Brian Cleary. The Lambs told me they already knew what a noun was and we didn't need to read the book. How did they know what a noun was? From watching Martha Speaks on PBS. We read the book but as they said they all already knew what a noun was. I'm not nearly as worried about Lamb 1 taking his first standardized test in the spring as I was before. Between the Lambs watching Wild Kratts (Science), Cyberchase (Math and Logic), Martha Speaks (Grammar and vocabulary), and Curious George (STEM? sort of a hodgepodge of topics) I think he'll do fine. Yes, the mom the gave up TV for a few years is saying this!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Downton Abbey Dilemma
Rebecca blogged about Downton Abbey here at He Remembers the Barren blog. (Please read her post before reading this. Esther told me I needed to add a spoiler alert here-I didn't think it was spoiling anything because I have seen everything aired so far. But if you haven't seen D.A. up to the point of what has been aired already, and you don't want to find out what happens, don't read Rebecca's post and you may not want to read my post either.)
It all started about a year ago when Ram's mom was visiting us one day when I took the Lambs to the library. Since she was at our library, she asked the librarian to put D. A. and some other movies that she thought I would enjoy on my hold list. Well, I was number 100 or something like that on the D. A. list. Then the Loopers began talking about what a great show D.A. was and I didn't want to wait for 99 other people to get it from the library. Ram's parents give everyone in the family a present on family birthdays so no one feels left out. They gave me these presents last year: Lamb 3's birthday-season 1, Ram's birthday-season 2, Mother's Day-two books about D.A. (The World of D.A. and Lady Almina and the Real D.A.). Shortly after I received the DVDs we watched all of them. Ram's mom and I had some e-mails back and forth as we both enjoy D.A.-I watched Season 1 and 2 on DVDS, she watched them each week on TV. It was interesting our perspectives on D.A.-both different generations watching the show and watching the DVDs vs. watching it on TV. I enjoyed the extras on the DVDs about their costumes etc.
We decided to get a TV antenna so we could watch season 3 when it aired. Ram and I have watched all of D.A. together. He enjoys watching the news and sometimes I watch that with him, but other than that I haven't watched TV since we got the antenna. It will be nice to be able to watch the SuperBowl this year though.
At scrapbooking last month there was one other lady that had watched D.A. before and we had a big conversation about it. Then the other ladies started asking questions about D.A. I told them it was a great show, but warned them that Season one had a scene that I didn't like that couldn't be fast forwarded through or you would be lost in the storyline later. That gay scene effected many characters and was referred to in several different storylines and episodes later. Then when my dad started getting interested in D.A., I e-mailed him and warned him about the gay scene in season one too.
Ram and I discussed this dilemma before season 3. We decided that there were gay people at that time of history and it is not wrong for the producers to portray gay people as part of the house upstairs and downstairs. I do not like this part of the show, but I do think British TV will portray it differently than Hollywood would. I also do not like that Mary slept with someone that she was not married too. I don't think you can pick just the issue of homosexuality to complain about on D.A.
In this sinful world, we have to be careful not to rate some sins as being worse than others. Gossiping may not seem as bad as sex outside of marriage, but a gossip may be what causes someone to commit suicide. In this context there are hundreds of sins going on inside the D.A. walls simply because there are sinners at D.A.
I haven't seen the episode where this upcoming scene is a problem. I did watch the preview of next week's episode, but that doesn't tell me enough of what is going to happen. I don't know where this storyline is going. Perhaps this character ends up in trouble over this. Perhaps the footman that he approaches is not interested. The storyline could go a lot of directions. I don't think we can assume the worst outcome with this. Perhaps it will be part of one episode and have to do with the storyline but not be shown again.
Thankfully my dh watches this show with me and will help me to know when/if D.A. crosses the line so I can't watch it any more. Plus my dad has been watching D.A., not every minute, but a lot of season 3 and he'll say something in his daily e-mails. It has been interesting watching it each week vs. watching it night after night on DVD until the season was finished. During the week I have thought about D.A. some. There are so many storylines that I have thought about much more than the scenes I do not approve of.
At this point I am not quitting D.A. yet. I will be more careful when I talk to others about the show now though. I may have quite the talking to do since many people at church know we got TV again so that I could watch D.A. If I do give up on D.A. I will have a lot of people to tell why I gave up on it, starting with the nice Christian ladies that I scrapbook with once a month.
Our TV is free now with the antenna and when we first plugged it in we agreed this was a trial. If I quit watching D.A. we may unplug the antenna and just plug it in when something important happens that we want to see the news. That is what Ram's parents did for many years while he was growing up-the TV was always in the closet and when something big happened in the news like the space shuttle exploding then the TV came out and was plugged in for a few days. Ram has already warned me about one bad commercial on the Superbowl this year. I expect that on the Superbowl, not during regular prime time TV. I don't watch any other TV shows besides D.A. so I have no idea how far the rest of prime time TV has fallen.
It isn't easy to know where a Christian should draw the line. I imagine this will get more difficult as the Lambs get older too. I did do no TV for the last 4 years. I will be tuning in this Sunday, but stay tuned to this blog to hear what we decide to do after that.
It all started about a year ago when Ram's mom was visiting us one day when I took the Lambs to the library. Since she was at our library, she asked the librarian to put D. A. and some other movies that she thought I would enjoy on my hold list. Well, I was number 100 or something like that on the D. A. list. Then the Loopers began talking about what a great show D.A. was and I didn't want to wait for 99 other people to get it from the library. Ram's parents give everyone in the family a present on family birthdays so no one feels left out. They gave me these presents last year: Lamb 3's birthday-season 1, Ram's birthday-season 2, Mother's Day-two books about D.A. (The World of D.A. and Lady Almina and the Real D.A.). Shortly after I received the DVDs we watched all of them. Ram's mom and I had some e-mails back and forth as we both enjoy D.A.-I watched Season 1 and 2 on DVDS, she watched them each week on TV. It was interesting our perspectives on D.A.-both different generations watching the show and watching the DVDs vs. watching it on TV. I enjoyed the extras on the DVDs about their costumes etc.
We decided to get a TV antenna so we could watch season 3 when it aired. Ram and I have watched all of D.A. together. He enjoys watching the news and sometimes I watch that with him, but other than that I haven't watched TV since we got the antenna. It will be nice to be able to watch the SuperBowl this year though.
At scrapbooking last month there was one other lady that had watched D.A. before and we had a big conversation about it. Then the other ladies started asking questions about D.A. I told them it was a great show, but warned them that Season one had a scene that I didn't like that couldn't be fast forwarded through or you would be lost in the storyline later. That gay scene effected many characters and was referred to in several different storylines and episodes later. Then when my dad started getting interested in D.A., I e-mailed him and warned him about the gay scene in season one too.
Ram and I discussed this dilemma before season 3. We decided that there were gay people at that time of history and it is not wrong for the producers to portray gay people as part of the house upstairs and downstairs. I do not like this part of the show, but I do think British TV will portray it differently than Hollywood would. I also do not like that Mary slept with someone that she was not married too. I don't think you can pick just the issue of homosexuality to complain about on D.A.
In this sinful world, we have to be careful not to rate some sins as being worse than others. Gossiping may not seem as bad as sex outside of marriage, but a gossip may be what causes someone to commit suicide. In this context there are hundreds of sins going on inside the D.A. walls simply because there are sinners at D.A.
I haven't seen the episode where this upcoming scene is a problem. I did watch the preview of next week's episode, but that doesn't tell me enough of what is going to happen. I don't know where this storyline is going. Perhaps this character ends up in trouble over this. Perhaps the footman that he approaches is not interested. The storyline could go a lot of directions. I don't think we can assume the worst outcome with this. Perhaps it will be part of one episode and have to do with the storyline but not be shown again.
Thankfully my dh watches this show with me and will help me to know when/if D.A. crosses the line so I can't watch it any more. Plus my dad has been watching D.A., not every minute, but a lot of season 3 and he'll say something in his daily e-mails. It has been interesting watching it each week vs. watching it night after night on DVD until the season was finished. During the week I have thought about D.A. some. There are so many storylines that I have thought about much more than the scenes I do not approve of.
At this point I am not quitting D.A. yet. I will be more careful when I talk to others about the show now though. I may have quite the talking to do since many people at church know we got TV again so that I could watch D.A. If I do give up on D.A. I will have a lot of people to tell why I gave up on it, starting with the nice Christian ladies that I scrapbook with once a month.
Our TV is free now with the antenna and when we first plugged it in we agreed this was a trial. If I quit watching D.A. we may unplug the antenna and just plug it in when something important happens that we want to see the news. That is what Ram's parents did for many years while he was growing up-the TV was always in the closet and when something big happened in the news like the space shuttle exploding then the TV came out and was plugged in for a few days. Ram has already warned me about one bad commercial on the Superbowl this year. I expect that on the Superbowl, not during regular prime time TV. I don't watch any other TV shows besides D.A. so I have no idea how far the rest of prime time TV has fallen.
It isn't easy to know where a Christian should draw the line. I imagine this will get more difficult as the Lambs get older too. I did do no TV for the last 4 years. I will be tuning in this Sunday, but stay tuned to this blog to hear what we decide to do after that.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Being a rural pastor's wife post #4
Today's tip is another practical one. Today I am going to discuss TV/Internet.
TV-We moved here before TV had gone digital. After living in Fort Wayne where there were a few free stations, I was surprised to move to a place where you couldn't get any stations without having cable or dish. We signed up for dish for a few years. We got tired of paying the high price each month and dropped it. We could get one station if the weather was good. Dish kept calling us and demanded to know what we had switched to. They didn't believe me that we weren't paying for any TV. We did that for about a year. Then our small town was one of the first in the area to install fiber optic TV through the phone company. We didn't sign up for it as soon as it was installed, but after a few months we did. We had that for a few years. It wasn't really that expensive to have the basic channels. But they kept increasing it a little bit until we were paying $13/month. We finally decided to give up TV for many reasons including the cost. We have been happy with this decision. We still have a TV to watch movies. We use the Internet a lot more since we don't have TV.
I post this because you know your family and if your family would be happy without TV. I also know that no TV is not the right option for most families. I want to give the advice that if you want TV, check out all your options. Do your homework-don't just sign up for dish or cable because that is what you had at your last house. I do think the fiber optic TV through the phone company is the cheapest option for where we live. Also know that your options are not as many as if you lived in a big city. Take the option that your family would be happy with and is also affordable compared to the other options you have available. Get the channels that your family "needs" at the most affordable price.
Internet-When we first moved here we had dial up. After a few years we finally switched to high speed. We still have "slow" high speed and I would recommend for rural living getting as high speed as you can afford. I do have friends that don't have any Internet at home and I'm sure they wouldn't agree with me. But I think it is almost a necessity for where we live. We were without a computer for 18 days Christmas 2009 and I really missed it. It is my communication with far away family, where I get my daily news, where I get the weather report, etc. It is not practical for me to go 7 miles to the library nor to go during library hours. There is no where I can go within at least 45 minutes besides the library to have wi-fi. We don't have a laptop so I would need to go to the library.
We also buy a lot of stuff online. Some of the things that we have bought online include laundry soap, diapers, coconut oil, vitamins, lots of things for the kitchen, lots of books, clothes and shoes for everyone in our family, and I even have bought bras for myself online. Some of those we just bought once on sale, some we buy regularly. If you watch sales or get on their e-mail mailing list you can often get free shipping. We have bought gifts for our family on the Internet and had them shipped there directly. Then I don't have to worry about wrapping/packing/shipping the gift. I just don't have stores available to shop at. There are no stores in our entire county that sell clothes (unless you count printed t-shirts or something like that). It seems like most of the time that I get to a store they don't have what I'm looking for. Plus it adds something to look forward to when our packages that we purchased arrive.
Don't be afraid to buy things online-many companies have free shipping for exchange. For example when I shop for bras-I buy 3 different styles, have them all shipped to me, try them on, choose one to keep and send the others back. It is so much easier than shopping at a mall and fighting crowds and making the Lambs wait while I try things on!
Do you have anything to add about TV or Internet when you live in a rural place?
Check back tomorrow for another practical tip for living as a rural pastor's wife.
TV-We moved here before TV had gone digital. After living in Fort Wayne where there were a few free stations, I was surprised to move to a place where you couldn't get any stations without having cable or dish. We signed up for dish for a few years. We got tired of paying the high price each month and dropped it. We could get one station if the weather was good. Dish kept calling us and demanded to know what we had switched to. They didn't believe me that we weren't paying for any TV. We did that for about a year. Then our small town was one of the first in the area to install fiber optic TV through the phone company. We didn't sign up for it as soon as it was installed, but after a few months we did. We had that for a few years. It wasn't really that expensive to have the basic channels. But they kept increasing it a little bit until we were paying $13/month. We finally decided to give up TV for many reasons including the cost. We have been happy with this decision. We still have a TV to watch movies. We use the Internet a lot more since we don't have TV.
I post this because you know your family and if your family would be happy without TV. I also know that no TV is not the right option for most families. I want to give the advice that if you want TV, check out all your options. Do your homework-don't just sign up for dish or cable because that is what you had at your last house. I do think the fiber optic TV through the phone company is the cheapest option for where we live. Also know that your options are not as many as if you lived in a big city. Take the option that your family would be happy with and is also affordable compared to the other options you have available. Get the channels that your family "needs" at the most affordable price.
Internet-When we first moved here we had dial up. After a few years we finally switched to high speed. We still have "slow" high speed and I would recommend for rural living getting as high speed as you can afford. I do have friends that don't have any Internet at home and I'm sure they wouldn't agree with me. But I think it is almost a necessity for where we live. We were without a computer for 18 days Christmas 2009 and I really missed it. It is my communication with far away family, where I get my daily news, where I get the weather report, etc. It is not practical for me to go 7 miles to the library nor to go during library hours. There is no where I can go within at least 45 minutes besides the library to have wi-fi. We don't have a laptop so I would need to go to the library.
We also buy a lot of stuff online. Some of the things that we have bought online include laundry soap, diapers, coconut oil, vitamins, lots of things for the kitchen, lots of books, clothes and shoes for everyone in our family, and I even have bought bras for myself online. Some of those we just bought once on sale, some we buy regularly. If you watch sales or get on their e-mail mailing list you can often get free shipping. We have bought gifts for our family on the Internet and had them shipped there directly. Then I don't have to worry about wrapping/packing/shipping the gift. I just don't have stores available to shop at. There are no stores in our entire county that sell clothes (unless you count printed t-shirts or something like that). It seems like most of the time that I get to a store they don't have what I'm looking for. Plus it adds something to look forward to when our packages that we purchased arrive.
Don't be afraid to buy things online-many companies have free shipping for exchange. For example when I shop for bras-I buy 3 different styles, have them all shipped to me, try them on, choose one to keep and send the others back. It is so much easier than shopping at a mall and fighting crowds and making the Lambs wait while I try things on!
Do you have anything to add about TV or Internet when you live in a rural place?
Check back tomorrow for another practical tip for living as a rural pastor's wife.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Our VCR
I have been spending a little time each night watching some old camcorded stuff and deciding whether we should put it on DVD or just throw the tapes out. Last night when I went to put a tape in, the VCR didn't work. As I unhooked it from the TV to see if I could tell what was broken, a DVD fell out of the VCR. We still had Ram's old VCR so we pulled that out of the basement and set it up. I really need a VCR right now because I'm in the middle of this project to see what really is on the old tapes. The Lambs have a lot of VHS tapes that they would be sad to no longer watch too.
This morning we tried to question the Lambs about the VCR. We knew Lamb 1 didn't do it. Lamb 2 denied doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 admitted doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 has such a limited vocabulary that we don't know. Ram tried questioning the Lambs and they all (even Lamb 3) blamed Lamb 3 very quickly. We'll never know who put the DVD in the VCR. Ram suspected Lamb 3 because he is the one that is always taking apart the music instruments-perhaps he wanted to watch a movie so he tried to start the movie by himself.
I would really like to have a backup VCR because Ram's VCR is older than mine was. We need one both in case of the Lambs having another accident or if it breaks because of age. Does any one have a VCR to sell to me? I know they are almost impossible to find to buy new-well maybe you could buy a DVD/VCR combo, but I'm sure that would be very expensive and we don't need a DVD player. I am hesitant to get one on Ebay even if I could find one there, because who know how old or what kind of shape it would be in?
This morning we tried to question the Lambs about the VCR. We knew Lamb 1 didn't do it. Lamb 2 denied doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 admitted doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 has such a limited vocabulary that we don't know. Ram tried questioning the Lambs and they all (even Lamb 3) blamed Lamb 3 very quickly. We'll never know who put the DVD in the VCR. Ram suspected Lamb 3 because he is the one that is always taking apart the music instruments-perhaps he wanted to watch a movie so he tried to start the movie by himself.
I would really like to have a backup VCR because Ram's VCR is older than mine was. We need one both in case of the Lambs having another accident or if it breaks because of age. Does any one have a VCR to sell to me? I know they are almost impossible to find to buy new-well maybe you could buy a DVD/VCR combo, but I'm sure that would be very expensive and we don't need a DVD player. I am hesitant to get one on Ebay even if I could find one there, because who know how old or what kind of shape it would be in?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Roald Dahl's Television Poem
Carole Joy Seid read this poem at the seminar last Saturday. My home did not have TV from when I was about 4 years old until about 6th grade. My parents also forbid me to watch Dukes of Hazard when I went over to my friend's house. Sometimes I still feel out of it when I talk to people and I didn't watch TV during those years. Ram's family had a TV, but during much of Ram's childhood, his mom kept it in the closet for use during special news times etc.
When we moved here 7 years ago, the Dish Network guy came to our house to install it. He was surprised that we owned ONE "small" TV. He said he usually installed 3 TVs as an average in one home and usually one of those was very large. We have friends that had a similar story about a surprised cable installer and they owned 2 TVs.
After a couple years of Dish Network, we got tired of paying the high price, so we disconnected it. Soon they called and wanted to know which satellite or cable we had transferred to. They were expecting to give us a deal and hoping that we transfer back. I will never forget the lady that called and her questions, she just couldn't fathom that we would completely give up TV. We were able to get one station out of Sioux Falls not too bad if the weather was good. If the weather was good we still watched the news. This was before TV went digital.
A few years after that the phone company installed fiber optics in our town. For $10/month we could get about 12 TV stations. We decided that was worth it to us for just $10/month. About a year after we started TV through the phone company, they raised the price to $12/month. We knew they would just keep raising prices. In February 2009, we disconnected TV through the phone company. We had "cheap" TV compared to cable and we are still saving a ton of money each year we don't have TV.
I'll admit there have been a few times that I really wished we had TV-during the Olympics, for the Super Bowl, and when Butler was doing so well in basketball. Ram teased me that I was a TV addict during those times. We still watched the Super Bowl commercials on the internet. I survived without watching TV the other times. Plus there were still many good TV shows in the 80s and TV today just doesn't compare so I feel like I miss even less.
We could watch a lot more TV on the internet for free and/or get a Netflix subscription. But we haven't. I am so busy that now that we've been without TV for a little more than a year, I can't imagine when I would find time to sit down and watch TV on the internet or Netflix. I don't read as much news as Ram does on the internet, but I still know more news now than I did when we had TV-just from the small amount of news and blogs that I read daily.
We haven't given away our VCR or our DVD player and we own quite a few movies. Many days the Lambs watch a movie during rest time. Ram and I occasionally sit down and watch a movie together. But we have many unopened movies that we have never got around to watching.
The only "problem" with no TV has been when our Lambs are offered stickers at the doctor they usually don't know who the characters on the stickers are. Since they rarely watched TV before we gave it up, that wouldn't be solved by getting TV. I've been surprised the characters that they did know from reading books too!
I just wanted to share that our family is basically a second generation no TV family. No TV is not right for every family. But it has worked well for our family. I can't see in the future that we will get TV again. As the end of the poem says, Thank you mom and dad for no TV for most of my childhood. Thank you for baking with me and playing board and card games with me and for encouraging me to play outside and for reading with me. I expect that our Lambs will grow up to say thank you for no TV too.
When we moved here 7 years ago, the Dish Network guy came to our house to install it. He was surprised that we owned ONE "small" TV. He said he usually installed 3 TVs as an average in one home and usually one of those was very large. We have friends that had a similar story about a surprised cable installer and they owned 2 TVs.
After a couple years of Dish Network, we got tired of paying the high price, so we disconnected it. Soon they called and wanted to know which satellite or cable we had transferred to. They were expecting to give us a deal and hoping that we transfer back. I will never forget the lady that called and her questions, she just couldn't fathom that we would completely give up TV. We were able to get one station out of Sioux Falls not too bad if the weather was good. If the weather was good we still watched the news. This was before TV went digital.
A few years after that the phone company installed fiber optics in our town. For $10/month we could get about 12 TV stations. We decided that was worth it to us for just $10/month. About a year after we started TV through the phone company, they raised the price to $12/month. We knew they would just keep raising prices. In February 2009, we disconnected TV through the phone company. We had "cheap" TV compared to cable and we are still saving a ton of money each year we don't have TV.
I'll admit there have been a few times that I really wished we had TV-during the Olympics, for the Super Bowl, and when Butler was doing so well in basketball. Ram teased me that I was a TV addict during those times. We still watched the Super Bowl commercials on the internet. I survived without watching TV the other times. Plus there were still many good TV shows in the 80s and TV today just doesn't compare so I feel like I miss even less.
We could watch a lot more TV on the internet for free and/or get a Netflix subscription. But we haven't. I am so busy that now that we've been without TV for a little more than a year, I can't imagine when I would find time to sit down and watch TV on the internet or Netflix. I don't read as much news as Ram does on the internet, but I still know more news now than I did when we had TV-just from the small amount of news and blogs that I read daily.
We haven't given away our VCR or our DVD player and we own quite a few movies. Many days the Lambs watch a movie during rest time. Ram and I occasionally sit down and watch a movie together. But we have many unopened movies that we have never got around to watching.
The only "problem" with no TV has been when our Lambs are offered stickers at the doctor they usually don't know who the characters on the stickers are. Since they rarely watched TV before we gave it up, that wouldn't be solved by getting TV. I've been surprised the characters that they did know from reading books too!
I just wanted to share that our family is basically a second generation no TV family. No TV is not right for every family. But it has worked well for our family. I can't see in the future that we will get TV again. As the end of the poem says, Thank you mom and dad for no TV for most of my childhood. Thank you for baking with me and playing board and card games with me and for encouraging me to play outside and for reading with me. I expect that our Lambs will grow up to say thank you for no TV too.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cookie Monster
We don't have TV and even when we did, the Lambs rarely watched Sesame Street. When I was little I watched Mr. Rogers, but I rarely watched Sesame Street. We went to the library on Saturday and I let the Lambs each pick one book to check out. The Lambs do know who the Sesame Street characters are from the Pampers they wore when I didn't use cloth diapers and we also have a few books with Sesame Street characters. Lamb 3 chose a book called Food! by Cookie Monster.
Reasons why I didn't like this book-
1. Bad grammar-continually uses "me" instead of "I". "Me love healthy food!"
2. I thought the point of the book was to teach there are healthy foods instead of just eating cookies all the time. Some of the healthy foods it shows him eating are pizza, a huge hero sandwich, birthday cake, and movie popcorn. Pizza can be homemade and made healthy, but they missed a great chance to show Cookie Monster eating lots of fruits and veggies to encourage children to eat healthy.
3. Lamb 3 just turned 2 and he wasn't very interested in this book like he is when we read some of the classics like Goodnight Moon! If it isn't interesting for a 2 year old, what age group would this book be for?
This experience is why we rarely use the library even though we homeschool. We have a better library at home. I'm not sure I would allow the Lambs to watch Sesame Street if we had TV. Or maybe I would purchase the old Sesame Street DVDs and not allow them to watch the new modern ones.
Reasons why I didn't like this book-
1. Bad grammar-continually uses "me" instead of "I". "Me love healthy food!"
2. I thought the point of the book was to teach there are healthy foods instead of just eating cookies all the time. Some of the healthy foods it shows him eating are pizza, a huge hero sandwich, birthday cake, and movie popcorn. Pizza can be homemade and made healthy, but they missed a great chance to show Cookie Monster eating lots of fruits and veggies to encourage children to eat healthy.
3. Lamb 3 just turned 2 and he wasn't very interested in this book like he is when we read some of the classics like Goodnight Moon! If it isn't interesting for a 2 year old, what age group would this book be for?
This experience is why we rarely use the library even though we homeschool. We have a better library at home. I'm not sure I would allow the Lambs to watch Sesame Street if we had TV. Or maybe I would purchase the old Sesame Street DVDs and not allow them to watch the new modern ones.
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