The TV Experiment

g and i decided that we'd had enough of the t.v.  and that the path to family happiness and contentment lay in trashing the beast.  

all weekend, we peppered our conversations before d with hints that 'the t.v. wasn't working correctly' and that 'it may have to spend some time in the repair shop'.  so, sunday night g unplugged the t.v. and wrestled it downstairs.  

i had no idea how it was going to go over with d.  well, i think we did a pretty good job with the hints, because monday morning he came down the stairs and saw the abyss....and had no comment whatsoever. which, if you know my kid, is a big deal. 

the day went by relatively smoothly.  we had a playdate over the lunch hour and then a long nap, so there we lots of distractions that helped.  i'm feeling confident that this will be easy! yeah, check back in a couple days! i'm afraid this may be harder for me than for the kids. after the kids were in bed last night, i actually reached for the remote -old habits. there's always the internet to entertain and inform me...but i have this feeling that maybe i should impose a 'real' media fast -well, a screen media fast at least...because how effective is this experiment if i just substitute one escapist vehicle with another?  

well, it's day two now, i'm on the computer again...obviously.  but even this little bit of respite from the black box has effected me.  i feel less harried, like there are miraculously more hours in the day!  i feel less self-aware; less stressed..somehow i'm comparing myself to others less, i'm not feeling as covetous and judgmental as before. wow, only from one day without t.v.  i'm excited about this; and maybe we'll make this a permanent thing!  although i miss project runway and my dvd fix!