I use to LIVE by cable tv. I had all of my reality tv programs that I needed to watch weekly. I DVR'd them and would watch them in my free time. It was a necessity.
No longer.
When I initially moved into a place of my own, we had limited cable television. The kids had a few channels to keep them entertained. Over the colder, winter months my package ended. I decided to upgrade to extended basic cable. I never watched it. The kids watched the same programs that they watch over at their dads and enjoyed it. But, still they rarely watched it. I am never home and can literally count on one hand the number of times I've watched television when the kids aren't at home. I'm either running, coaching, running errands, cleaning, blogging ... or fifty million other things on my to do list.
It was a moment recently, when the kids were not at my house for a few days. I turned the tv on, and it was still on the same channel from 3-4 days ago. Amazing. I ended up cancelling cable tv and saving $45/month. Even more amazing. And, I'm loving it.
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| Reading books from the library .... 7AM on a Tuesday morning |
What I have observed:
It's interesting. I'm noticing less distractions. Less whining. More "listening ears". I only have to tell them to do something once (ok, maybe twice) to do something. They aren't looking at the tv while "listening to me". An increased interest in reading from both kids (who already loved to read). Less resistance to leave the house or go outside. They are more cooperative. The house is more quiet. They are more engaged and interested in sharing what happened during their day at school.
The kids have not cried about it. They have not questioned it or whined. I've told them we are saving money to do fun things together and that we are active and enjoy being OUTSIDE. And, I really don't think they have missed it. (Note: They DO have cable TV at their dad's house)
Don't get me wrong .... Friday nights still consist of much of what they use to. Free videos from the library or $1 movie rentals from the Redbox. We just don't need the regular programming. Apparently, my Facebook post recently, has also prompted other families to do the same. Aweseome.
Do you think you could
survive without
Cable TV?
survive without
Cable TV?
We got rid of cable a couple of years ago and never turned back. With an HD antenna we picked up from Best Buy, we get all the over-the-air channels, and that is all we need. The kids occasionally watch PBS Kids, but otherwise it's just videos for them. Hubby and I rarely watch anything except news in the morning. The only thing I have missed is having some sports channels for college football games in the fall. However, we are guaranteed that the Packers will always be broadcast over the airwaves (I am assuming!), so mostly we're all good. I LOVE not having cable. Most of it was junk anyway.
ReplyDeleteNice! I bet it feels great and what a positive influence for your kids. :)
ReplyDeleteWe got rid of it a couple of years ago and haven't missed it. We watch things mostly on Hulu and Netflix. The only thing we're worried about is Olympic coverage this year, since so much of it is on cable channels.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had cable in a few years. I do pay the $10 a month for basic, basic cable (channels 2-13) so I don't have to deal with rabbit ears. In general I don't miss it. But I do admit, during college football and basketball season I do miss having cable. I find other ways to catch the game though. And like Sarah AJ Friday mentioned, the upcoming Olympics might be hard too.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had cable in a couple of years. I wouldn't say the volume of tv we watch overall is less as we haveNetflix streaming and both of my girls can navigate that easily. The one major change for us was no more begging and whining because they don't see commercials anymore!
ReplyDeleteI have not had cable in about 6 years. I am not home enough to watch it and everything I need is at the library, hulu, or redbox.
ReplyDeleteI could, hubby couldn't, kids would miss it for a while I suppose.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest with you, I am debating on it. My son watches his cartoons sometimes but with summer coming up, we won't be home near as much so what's the point? The only thing I know I can't live without is HBO. All my favorite shows are on there! But with stuff like Netflix streaming, Hulu Plus and most shows going live the following day, what's the point anymore you know?
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I know I could easily get by without it, but don't think hubby could!
ReplyDeletewe watch Netflix, Hulu, PBS, Youtube. Haven't had cable TV for 12 years and its been great! Movie rentals are cheap and there are always awesome movies or tv show series at the library to check out.
ReplyDeleteCable tv is SO NOT WORTH THE COST! We pay $25 for our Cable internet and get all the shows we want.
Good luck to you!
I've been thinking about doing this for a long time. I'm glad to hear that it's working so well for you!
ReplyDeleteWe got rid of TV reception completely 7 1/2yrs ago. LOVE IT!! We do still watch movies and use Netflix, and I watch Biggest Loser online, but I love that we don't constantly flip it on out of habit. It was a hard thing the first couple of weeks, especially for kids used to just flipping on PBS in the morning or afternoon, but it has been one of the best things we ever did!
ReplyDeleteI am actually thinking about cancelling TV as well! I do need the internet for work...we shall see!
ReplyDelete