A welcomed tragedy...

 A welcomed tragedy…

A tragedy struck our house the other week. We lost our remote control for the Fetch TV. It is similar to Foxtel. There was no way to use it without a remote! Oh no!

The most anticipated hour of the day...

I never considered our family to be big TV watchers- until we couldn't use it. The boys were never allowed to sit and watch TV from dawn to dusk but having no TV at all was something out of the ordinary. In the past the boys wouldn't be allowed to watch TV until around one o'clock in the afternoon. At this time they chose a movie to watch and since this was the first time they were allow to watch any telly for the day, they would usually sit and watch happily. I'd take this opportunity to catch up on housework- oh who am I kidding- I took this opportunity to have a nap. It was sweetness wrapped in a doona. Some days knowing I was going to get a 1pm nap was the only thing that kept me going. So when we lost our remote my first response was 'what about my nap?!'

The first 2-3 days were like detoxing from a sugar addiction. We were being forced to think of new ways to spend our new found free time.

The next few days were great and I actually began enjoying not having any artificial sound in the house at all. I enjoyed watching the boys interacting with each other more. We were spending our time a lot more thoughtfully than we were before.

With our new found free time we spent it doing more of the things we've always enjoyed doing. 

Here are some of the things we more often during our forced TV free days:

Our breakfasts looks nothing like this...

* we cooked more together- breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, cakes... not every meal, every day but more than before;

* we played hide and seek around the house (also a good opportunity to tidy the house when you are "looking" for them,)

* they played more in their cubby box where they drew on the wall, had tea parties in it, and took 'naps';

Getting dirty in the garden...

* we made more blanket forts;

* we tended to the veggie patch more regularly;

* we sang nursery rhymes more;

* we turned on music and danced more often (the boys now know how to 'moon walk';

* we looked through photo album of when they were a baby, and looked at photos of their great- grandparents;


Learning about our family

* we had pillow fights;

* we sat making faces in front of the mirror;

* we blew bubbles;

* we read more books;

* we painted more;

* the boys started to do 'chores' around the house;

* sometimes the boys would take themselves to their room. I don't know what they were doing- but based on the giggles and laughter from the other side of the door- they were having fun;

* we did more puzzles;

* they played with their doll's house (which also converts to a car parking garage, or dinosaur enclosure;) and

* we visited our elderly neighbours more often.

We were thoroughly enjoying our television free lives. Then it happened. We found it. It was hidden in a crevice behind our TV stand. I thought I'd be excited to see it because surely this would mean the return of my 1pm naps... right? No, I wasn't excited but I wasn't disappointed either. We carried on own TV-less lives until the following day. I asked the boys if they'd like to watch and movie....  and they said no. I almost fainted. It took two weeks to detox off television and I don't think we will go back to our old ways. We might keep it for weekends only. 

 

So do you think you'd have what is takes to detox from televisions? Is this something you want to do? Tell me what you think. 

 

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