Going Dark

It's finally come down to it.  You know how I said everything seems to be going up except for paychecks?  Well, that's still true.  Prices have gone up, quality has come down, and I have gotten really tired of it.  Last week we received our "new" cable price.  The deal we've been enjoying for the last 2 years is now over, and the cable company would very much like to double what we've been paying, and charge us that. 

Um.....no.

So my husband got on the phone and said "No", and they played "let's make a deal", and the best the company could do was still too high.  So you know what?  We're turning off the cable.

I know....how un-American.  No TV.  How will we go on?

I imagine, just fine.  I will be honest with you--I watch just about nothing right now.  There is nothing to watch.  I have tried to watch some of the more "popular" shows that I hear about, like Modern Family or that new one with Robin Williams which was so good I forgot it's name already.   I have never seen American Idol, sorry, and I don't watch any of those challenge shows like the dancing one or the cooking one, or that other cooking one.  Or the ones where the guy goes and yells at everybody and makes them feel bad.  Reality TV?  Nope.  And HGTV, which I used to love when it was a craft channel, is now all about flipping houses, people buying HUGE houses because their two kids "need more space" (puhleeze), and other people renovating houses in ways I could never afford.  In reality, my husband and I would sit down for an hour at the end of the day and look through however many channels we had, and nothing would be on.  With rare exception.  And we were still paying for it.  Not to mention the number of commercials.  Don't even get me started there.

So we are saying sayanara to the Idiotbox.  I think there will be a bit of a transition--maybe even a withdrawal period of sorts.  Especially with the kids, who love their Disney channel.  But in the long run, I am truly hoping it will bring us together.  For me, I'm going to be glad that my children won't be told what they "have" to buy to be "cool", and we won't be subject to being berated because we didn't buy a Lexus or some other expensive car, haven't traded in our old cellphones for the latest and greatest (we don't even own cellphones--well, my husband does, but it's technically his company's phone), and then be shown how to accessorize said phones, and I will be triply glad that my daughter will not be barraged with the message that women can never get grey hair, never get wrinkles, and have to dress like prostitutes to make others jealous.  Gee darn.  Seems like I'll be missing out on a lot.

Yes, I've had it.  So finally, finally, I am doing something about it.  Instead of TV, I am looking forward to buying a bunch of board games for us to play as a family (suggestions are very welcome), and finding that our nights are more productive and possibly that our sleep is more restful.  I don't know.  And yes, this is going to be fairly controversial in my family, and I expect a bit of blowback from others.  I realize that TV is an American institution of sorts and that many people take TV very seriously.  I know my own parents are probably going to argue with me about it, from the viewpoint that I'm "taking away" something from my children.  But hear this: I truly believe I'm giving them something back.  I'm giving them back their otherwise wasted time.  I'm giving them back their creativity and imagination.  Though my children have been very limited in the amount of time they are allowed to watch TV, an hour is still an hour that could have been spent elsewhere.  I'm giving them back that hour.  And most of all, I hope against all hope, that I am going to be giving them the gift of time spent together.  All of us.  Together.  As a family.

To me, that's the best part of all.  So TV, adios!  Via con Dios.  Good luck in the house next door.  Because come next month, when our time is up, Chicken Scratch is going dark.  See ya!