I am thinking about turning off our cable television?

I grew up on television. As soon as we got home from school, he would jump on the couch and turn on the tv until my dad got home, and then we would sit down and watch the news after dinner with him. This happened nearly everyday.

After my parents separated, my mom soon canceled cable, and I was mortified. I was devastated that there was no longer cable television, and I would try to beg and reason with my mom to get it back. It was very, very hard at first. But honestly, the more time that went by, the less devastated I felt.

It didn't take long until I stopped missing television, and almost 7 years later, television is still the last thing on my mind. I have no idea what the soap operas are about, I have no idea what the tv line up is, I have no idea what the latest reality television show is . . . And I could not care less! In other words, I have no feelings for television, and I am convinced that I will never get cable, and I will not raise my children on cable.

What we do have is a television with a VCR/DVD player. Every night the family picks out a movie and we'll watch something, or some times we'll pull out the N64 and play some Mario games. Some times we'll do both. We also have an antenna, and we will use it to watch special sports events (like the NBA finals), or some times we'll watch the news (but that's kind of rare).

eta: Too much television does increase ADD and ADHD. When you are used to being entertained in ways that practicly numb your mind, it will shorten your attention span. It becomes harder for children to concentrate and hold still, and because they are so use to being entertained by noise and bright lights, it becomes harder for them to concetrate on things that really do require your mind (i.e., reading, studies, church, etc.)

We have a couple of neighborhood kids who come over, and one of them is diagnosed with ADHD. He is so incredibly hyper! I have never seen him sit still or keep his mouth shut for a full minute. We will sit down for lunch, and he is always the last one to finish eating because he is constantly talking and jumping out of his chair (we're constantly asking him to sit down and eat). And what is the one thing he talks about? Television, cartoons, movies, and video games! I swear, I have never heard him talk about anything else. Every time he comes over, all he wants to do is play video games, computer games, or watch a movie. My nephew is always telling him how he wants to play outside or play hide n' go seek, but this neighborhood boy will almost always say no.

Hmm, I wonder if his constant "mind numbing" activities has anything to do with his ADHD . . .

I hope you don't mind my rambling input!

I rarely watch television, and by that I mean that if you tracked my tv watching, I would probably only have an hour a week at most. I am a single (divorced) mom of a 5 year old. We are just too busy and there is too much life to sit around watching tv. Having said that, I do have cable with the starz package so I can on demand a movie if the timing is right and it's just one of those rare nights when we want to sit back and watch a movie together.

As far as your 2 year old goes, this is what I do with my daughter when she's wanting to have tv time when it's not an appropriate time... I flip through history channel and a few like that and say, sorry honey this is all that's on. Geez, if my 5 year old wants to watch history channel.. lol.. I won't argue.. haha.. :) But, usually I have other things going that she'd rather be doing.. either cleaning house with me, gardening, or right now, she's watercolor painting at the table beside me. However, I will say that there are times (and especially for a married couple) when you just need a few minutes... and saving that 1 hour or so of cartoon time for then is really nice.. :)

I am a teacher and agree with you that children watch wayyyy too much television these days.. we have honestly had a child who could only speak in tv commercial phrases... and the rates of obesity are alarming... plus, children are having attention issues if I don't flash bright colors and do a song and dance or act out a battle scene lol.. (I'm kidding about that, but seriously, they have a hard time just being kids without all the electronic busy body stuff).

I think it's good you want to limit their tv time.. .. there's so much life beyond the tv. Enjoy it... I doubt when they are grown and out of the house, you'll look back and wish you had watched more tv....

I haven't watched regular T.V. for more than a year now. It's fine once you get used to it. I am 28yo however.

You might consider not selling the TV but instead purchasing a media PC, hook it up to your set and watch shows on the internet. They are usually a day later than when they air. Personally I use my lap top and hook that up to my TV. It's a bit inconvenient but better than getting drawn into hours of mindless programming.

You may also think about buying your child's favorite shows on DVD and only allowing her to watch them that way. Doing that will self regulate her ability to watch certain shows and after a while she'll get bored with the same thing over and over. (Or maybe not... children have a great tolerance for repetition.)

Also, you may want to talk with your provider about leaving a signal and box routed to your house that way your husband can still get the pay per sporting events, if he's into that. I'm not sure if providers do that or not so you'll have to call to find out.

All in all, you and your husband should decide the best route and once settled your child will have to deal with it. As parents, you are the authority and managers of your home and your children will have to learn that.

Try to also find other activities that your child will like and slowly replace the TV habit with those other things.

Hope this helps!

I can certainly see where you're coming from and would support your decision.

Our children are watching too much TV and that is why educational skills are suffering so much these days and we are becoming a dumber nation.

I let my son watch 1 hour of PBS educational shows in the morning and sometimes at night we will watch a Disney movie as a family. We do this about twice a week unless we make other plans for family nights. I don't think there's anything wrong with a little TV but if your family is watching too much and it is producing unruly children then I would boot it out too. It's not the necessity that people seem to think it is.

While it can be a distraction, tv is not necessarily a bad thing either. I would suggest some type of compromise like going a month-- maybe two months without tv only and go from there. Cutting it out permanently is kind of harsh but who knows, maybe after going a month without it, you'll find everyone is more content.

However, if you do this be prepared to replace it with other activities, if your hubby can't watch sports, buy him tix to a game during that month and subscribe him to mlb updates on his phone for a few bucks. Take your kids to the library and get books on their favorite tv show characters and maybe a toy if they don't already have one and reinact the shows or make one up with them. Turn on the radio more and dance around and all that. Tell ghost stories and do art projects. Go out and enjoy the summer with them!

Don't make the experience a punishment, but rather, a fulfilling, positive experience for everyone.

Also, try getting them signed up for a summer activity like swimming or something to take their mind off of it, and remember, if you have internet, many of yours and your husbands programs can be watched online now if you get a late night urge!

When you sign back up for cable, just make a new rule that if you whine, you get no tv, and set a time limit-- Good luck and have fun with it!!!

What we did was NO TV or videos before age 2. After that, we just got what's called Broadcast Basic cable for about $10 a month. That only included about 15 channels, of which two were PBS, so there was enough kid programming there. Now, at 10, we have everything. I do think she watches too much Nick and Disney Channel now, but her verbal skills and grades are fine. Yes, don't use the TV as a babysitter.

We shut off our cable...more because we didn't want to pay the $90 a month for it than for the fact that it sucks the intelligence out of you.

My husband used to flip through the cable channels every seven minutes, still unable to find something to hold his interest, even though we had 200 channels. Now he flips through the eight channels that we have and can't find anything. Unfortunately our only choices now are King of the Hill and Family Guy, or OETA...the educational network. There is nothing in between. I miss cable. At least I didn't have to listen to any of the above listed annoying shows in the background.

When I discontinued Cable, my Y!A time increased by a factor of a few 1000.

So keep in mind, mind numbing entertainment can always be replaced with something similar.

I'd like to think I actually learn one or two more things on the internet than I did watching Beavis and Butthead, but it's too close to know for sure.

set a schedule so they can only watch tv an hour a day or something like that. and just slowly chop it down. cant go from 100% to 0 right away it wont be good. And distract them with something else interesting like an educational video game which will give them something to watch and interact with kinda like tv.

That wouldn't be exactly a great idea, you have to teach children their limitations on things. Having cable isn't bad, but, allowing children to watch too much is. My kids have fifty inch eyes from me not making them do other things, but, I like having my cable when I want to watch a program.