tejawiga

For some unknown reason Casey turned on the satellite receiver and it worked. Damn! She was excited and I was crestfallen. Goodness, I was just getting to like the peace and quiet. We were spending quality time together. I guess going cold turkey was a bit harder for Casey than I expected. After watching some television, with a friend, the crabbiness returned. Ewwww!

That TV is a relationship stealer. It's time to plot its demise.

I have been entertaining the thought of slipping out in the night and disconnecting the wires at the dish. Casey would never suspect and Josh doesn't watch it so it doesn't really matter enough for him to go investigate. Should I do it? Should I be a wicked person and disconnect the virtual life support for the TV?

I want my peaceful life back... hmmmmmm... disconnecting would be the most humane way... it would be quick and painless... hmmmm... she will be in the shower at 7:00... I could slip out then and it would still be light out... bwaaahahahahaha!

Bad mother... go stand in the corner and wait for your turn to appear on Dr Phil for an intervention...

The TV no longer rules the roost at our house. My ISO (insignificant, and absent in many ways, other) stopped paying for the satellite dish connection so we no longer have TV. Given that he doesn't live here anymore I guess it just took him a while to figure out he was spending money and not directly benefiting from it.

Like any addiction in which one goes cold turkey there is always the shock and denial followed closely by anger. When the TV didn't bring up any channels the unexpected change left my 8 yr old daughter pretty crabby. She had yet again another reason to add to the list of why she doesn't like her father. No Disney Channel or Nickelodeon -- which meant no Hannah Montana, Zoe 101 (don't get me started on that show), SpongeBob, or the plethora of other mind-sucking shows that would have Walt Disney grasping his chest and falling in a heap to the floor. Initially, I was a bit taken back as well, given that I have a boodle of work to do for my job and needed to keep her distracted so I could dedicate some time to transcribing notes and writing lesson plans, and the TV was convenient).

The good news... my daughter and I found more reasons to do things together. We did chores, cleaned house, cooked, played Uno, competed against each other on the Wii for an hour (it still works but all we have are interactive sports games so its at least physically active), and managed to have a good day. We both ended it in a good mood, and not with her storming off to her room to watch TV because I turned the living room set off. We woke up this morning and made pumpkin bread together. I also like the lack of electronic noise that fills the house. Now the house is filled with the sounds of real people and real life. Sometimes its even delightfully quiet.

The downside, I still have to get my lesson plans and side work done before tomorrow. She wants to call a friend to come play. Wonder if the friend can live without TV too?

Boy, I think of the good old days when kids had to find something to do that didn't revolve around the TV. Us kids didn't have TV issues when we were growing up. My brother and I went outside to play because there was no room in our tiny house without being underfoot. Besides, there wasn't anything on TV for kids except one or two shows on Saturday morning (Boomtown with Rex Trailor comes to mind) and Walt Disney's show on Sunday evening. Being the child of a TV repairman I feel traitorous saying that I don't like TV much. It hogs my space and robs me of relationships. I am (secretly, so my daughter doesn't catch wind of it) ecstatic it is gone. Today I am saying, to myself, good riddance to bad rubbish!

Could you live without TV?