We’ve been leading up to this moment for quite a while. A couple years ago, I thought, Hey! Let’s get rid of our TV. I wanted to for several reasons, but I find it to be a terrible temptation as a mother, just to put something on for the kids so I can get something done. One show turns into two and so on and before you know it the morning is gone. Besides the fact that while they were sitting there staring at the rectangle on the wall, doing nothing of value, Mama just did a morning of chores, none of which they were able to help with, and each of which were very important for their little minds to learn to do.
It took two years for Scott to agree with my idea and a couple months for us to finally do it. All of this to say: We no longer own a TV! Phew!
At first I think Scott might have been a little uneasy about the idea. Last night we loaded it up in the car and drove it out of here. But today he said, “I really like having the TV gone. It’s such a calm feeling.” And he’s right! It’s not as if we watched it all the time. Many days would pass when it wouldn’t be turned on. But there’s something about it’s lack of presence that has brought a new kind of peace to our home. No longer is all the living room furniture turned in one direction to face a black rectangle on the wall. No longer is the question being asked with awaited anticipation for Mama to grab the remote and turn on a favorite movie, only to have the following five minutes be nothing but bickering about which movie to watch.
Just peace. Not that it’s quiet in here. On the contrary! It’s fantastically noisy! Preciously noisy! It’s the noise of three dancing, singing, story telling ladies who are lost in their own imaginations and not one someone has written for them. It’s open ended fantasy.
While it certainly isn’t every person’s dream to rid their home of the television, it is such a great feeling for me. I love to simplify our life. This is just one more way we can do that and rather than fill our children’s memories with hours of TV watching, we can fill them with experiences and time spent together as a family.
