No TV-What to do with the time?

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Hi all,
Thanks for the ideas. I neglected to mention that I live in a very rural area…the nearest “city” of 30,000 is 75 miles away. But, I do appreciate the ideas about serving in the community and taking advantage of what might be offered locally. During Lent, the only offerings at our parish are Friday night soup suppers and Stations of the Cross, which we do attend. I am the volunteer youth minister and DH is in the Knights, so we are already active in the parish. With a little thought, I’m sure we could come up with a way to serve in the community–maybe just by making a point to visit with people we know might be lonely during these long winter months.
I mentioned my idea to DH last night. He asked why I thought we needed to get rid of the TV. I told him that I didn’t think it was helping our family and that Gabe, the 4 year old, was especially suffereing because of it. I admitted that I find myself using the TV far too often as a means to keep Gabe occupied while I am doing other things. I told him I didn’t want Gabe to be raised by the TV. I guess in putting it that way, I was asking more for his support than criticizing his TV habit. He didn’t really have a response…but I told him he still had plenty of time to come up with one if he wants. 😉 We’ll see…

Kathy
 
shannyk said:
hate to rain on everyone’s parade, but there is NO good, unbiased news network in existence, they are all circus acts no more,so there’s no sense in even going there with an argument to one or the other. If you think there is, you too have been brainwashed.:twocents:
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I agree with this post, all are a little biased but truly during the last election CNN made a huge push to show both sides and had consultants from all parties.

In regards to Fox though there has been scientific research done (you can google this) in peer reviewed journals showing that people who only watch Fox news are mis-informed in regards to the actual facts. Even if you lean right, that is reason enough not to watch that channel. (example - in 2005 many people who only watched Fox believed there were WMD in Iraq, we know this is false, even Bush has agreed there were no WMD now).

Bottom line though is that none are completely unbiased but who wants to watch something that is going feed you information that is just plan wrong, regardless of your political affiliation.

I find it ironic that people on this board usually agree that Protestant don’t have the full understanding of Faith because they usually pick and choose what information they want to promote based upon their particular religious views (verse here verse there). One of the things that brought me to the Church was the fact that we truly look at the Bible as a whole for our understanding even if that may be difficult. It was the fact that I do look to as many sources as possible that lead me home. Yet from a political standpoint I see person after person that only wants to hear information that promotes their own particular mindset even if the information is incorrect… makes me sad…

Sorry for the derail 😦
 
I tend not to watch the news either - at least not the full news bulletins. Anything worth knowing I get from the three- or five- minute updates the TV stations have on at other times of the day.

As for giving up TV - if hubby is so addicted it might be hard to go ‘cold turkey’.

Perhaps compromise a little - have EWTN or other Catholic/decent Christian TV on instead, or else limit the time with Fox (if that’s the real culprit) or tv in general - say an hour a day, or just two or three days a week, whatever works best.
 
jwashu said:
I agree with this post, all are a little biased but truly during the last election CNN made a huge push to show both sides and had consultants from all parties.

In regards to Fox though there has been scientific research done (you can google this) in peer reviewed journals showing that people who only watch Fox news are mis-informed in regards to the actual facts. Even if you lean right, that is reason enough not to watch that channel. (example - in 2005 many people who only watched Fox believed there were WMD in Iraq, we know this is false, even Bush has agreed there were no WMD now).

Bottom line though is that none are completely unbiased but who wants to watch something that is going feed you information that is just plan wrong, regardless of your political affiliation.

I find it ironic that people on this board usually agree that Protestant don’t have the full understanding of Faith because they usually pick and choose what information they want to promote based upon their particular religious views (verse here verse there). One of the things that brought me to the Church was the fact that we truly look at the Bible as a whole for our understanding even if that may be difficult. It was the fact that I do look to as many sources as possible that lead me home. Yet from a political standpoint I see person after person that only wants to hear information that promotes their own particular mindset even if the information is incorrect… makes me sad…

Sorry for the derail 😦
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I never said we only watch Fox, just we don’t watch CNN!! sorry another derail…enough about news channels!

I’m going to talk to my husband tonight about turning the t.v. off during Lent. I don’t think there is anything wrong with us still having family movie night, but just not all the other junk that is on!
We don’t watch that much t.v., but it does bother me to go visit my in-laws and the t.v. is on the whole time. And they don’t care what show it is. I’ve had to tell my father in-law that the kids can’t watch that and if he really wants too, then we will just go home. He changes the channel, but never turns it off. As soon as he leaves the room…I turn it off!
To the OP. I’m glad you started this thread! It’s really gotten me thinking about things to do with my family!! Thanks:thumbsup:
 
You sound like my MIL. They got rid of their satellite TV. They have kids at home ages 21, 16, 14 and one son 19 who has down syndrome. Other things they do to keep occupied are lots of board games, some of the newer Uno ones, Apples to Apples, Imaginiff, Taboo, Catch Phrase, etc. They also have a Nintendo Wii that the kids play games on. They have a ping pong table in the basement they use. They suscribe to Netflix and have movies delivered to watch and have family movie nights. They don’t go out a lot because the grandmother (95) lives with them and it’s hard to take her places and she can’t be left alone.
 
KathyA said:
I’ve become increasingly annoyed with the TV in our house and the amount of time it is turned on. I’d like to totally blame DH, but must confess that I use the TV far too much to keep DS#2 (almost 4) occupied while I’m doing other things around the house. DH likes to come home from work, tune into FOX News and leave it there until bedtime. He has been dragging himself away from the tube each evening to play a game of cribbage with me, but the TV remains on as background noise.

I want to propose a ban on TV for Lent this year. What other things could we do as a family/individually to fill that mindless TV void? DS#1 is 17…he may or may not be participating with family time depending on how much homework he has.

Kathy
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I took the TV out of my room and it’s way better that way. I know a guy who got rid of his TV, Internet, radio, newspapers, etc.
 
I gave up my TV for Lent last year. I will probably do it this year as well. It was an adjustment at first. After Lent was over, I found that I barely turned the TV on in the first place. I use it now for the evening news. Otherwise, it’s DVD’s to watch for entertainment and my exercise routine.

When I had the foster boys, they were not allowed to watch TV during the week. They could watch mo more than two hours on the weekend (total, both days). Occasionally I would break down and let them watch one movie and a 1/2 hour kids’ show in the evening, but only on the weekends. We had lots of fun together, playing and talking. They also helped with the house work.
 
Otherwise, it’s DVD’s to watch for entertainment and my exercise routine.
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So you ordered the “buns of steel” tapes way back when?
 
BamaRider said:
So you ordered the “buns of steel” tapes way back when?
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:rotfl: No! I have various Aerboics dvd’s and dance as well. It works when it’s too cold in Indiana to go running! I can’t use winter as an excuse to let myself go…lol
 
My Hubby and I don’t even have basic cable…but we still enjoy our TV shows. So, we rent, borrow or watch shows online together (the latter of which is FREE) and sometimes, we even download them after they aired and watch them at our leisure (we don’t have a DVR or VCR either) and that way se don’t spend too much time watching tv and you can’t sit down and watch TV just to do something. We have our shows, and that is all we watch…no news, no soaps and no random specials that catch your eye as you channel surf.
 
do you really want to give up tv for lent, or do you want your dh
to pay attention to the family? If he’s too tired to do anything but
watch tv, turning it off won’t make him do anything. It won’t make
the rest of the family do anything either.

One year, our family gave up tv for lent. It was funny at first.
The kids said “where’s the tv?” They took turns pretending to
be a newscaster in the empty space. We laughed and laughed.
Then they took turns acting like us.:bigyikes:
Is that what we’re really like? We laughed and laughed some
more. They got tired of it after less than a week, and started
to act out circus and clown shows for us. It was just like we
were watching tv, but the show was so much better. That was
about it, about maybe 1 and a half weeks total, and they were
off to their rooms for the rest of lent. Yes they did think of
creative and fun things to do, but not with us.

So, we rented some books on tape. They were boring.
Now dh was annoyed. He wired up the stereo somehow so
that the sound of television came out through the speakers
and that made him feel very very satisfied.

The most surprising thing to me was how I missed my dear
electronic friend. I thought only the rest of the family was
addicted to tv. I thought that all our problems would be solved
without the tv. I learned that you have to make plans on
purpose, not just turn off the tv.

God bless your lent…
 
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