The no TV experiment

About nine months ago we decided to banish the TV from the living room. OK, actually, when I say ‘we’ I really mean Chris. It was something he’d been talking about doing for a few months and I’d resisted. Vehemently. I liked having a TV there. I liked ironing in front of the TV. I liked blogging in front of the TV. I liked drawing in front of the TV. But, if I’m honest, what I liked most was sticking Rosemary in front of the TV while I cleaned the kitchen, filled the dishwasher, fed the baby, or did anything that I thought I couldn’t possibly do unless she was quiet and docile in front of the TV.

The problem was that this wasn’t much good for Rosemary – well, duh, you’re probably saying, but I think I was in serious denial and really didn’t realise how bad it was for her. She would constantly complain of being tired, but this was because she was sitting in front of the TV so much and was becoming super-relaxed – and so feeling tired. She took to saying that she didn’t want to live here anymore and that she wanted to live at one friend or another’s (whichever one whose house she’d been to most recently), because it was too boring here. She would throw tantrums when it was time to stop watching TV and go and have dinner, go to bed, go to playgroup… And, really, she did very little else at home other than watch TV. OK, once a week I’d have a baking session with her or Chris would have a painting or gluing session, but these wouldn’t last more than 45 minutes or so.

One night, after some particular transgression on Rosemary’s part that I can’t actually recall, Chris took it upon himself to get rid of the TV. He took it down to the basement and rearranged the living room so that there was lots of space for playing, so that the toys were more prominent and, most importantly, so that there wasn’t an easy chair pointing almost directly at a TV!

And, boy, was I scared. I thought I’d never be able to get anything done. I thought Rosemary would be distraught in the morning and I’d have to cope with a screaming child, as well as a small baby. I thought I was suddenly going to have to come up with lots of ways to entertain Rosemary, instead of just leaving it up to the TV.

Well… actually… it was fine. She was a bit upset at first, but when it was explained to her that it wasn’t a punishment, just a change to help her enjoy her home more. That she would still be able to watch things sometimes in our room and on the computers. That she actually had lots of toys that she hadn’t touched in a long time. She was fine. She got into the toys and started playing.

And I was catapulted back to the days when I used to sit and watch and listen to her play imaginatively. I didn’t need to spend hours amusing her, because she was actually pretty good at doing so herself, she just hadn’t had the chance. Of course, I did have to interact with her more and even read to her or play with her in the mornings a bit, but (duh again, I’m sure) that was wonderful. It took me a while to get into a new morning routine for myself and the dishwasher tended to get seen to at different times. But I still managed to get everything done.

As Eleanor got older, Rosemary played with her more and I got a bit more time back to do a few things in the kitchen. And these days mornings are pretty good and involve no TV whatsoever and Rosemary eats breakfast with us, instead of at her small table in front of the TV. Rosemary’s toys get a lot more outings. She creates obstacle courses and does sofa acrobatics. She does phonics or writing during or after breakfast. She plays with her sister, a lot. She plays in her small den behind the easy chair (fittingly, in the very spot where the TV used to be). She draws at her desk in the office.

Of course, the living room tends to be a lot messier than before, but it really doesn’t take long to tidy up at the end of the day, or even during the day. In fact, sometimes, Rosemary (and Eleanor, actually) will actually help tidy up – especially if you put Mamma Mia on.

And she watches very little TV. So little, in fact, that we’ve actually been trying to introduce a period for a bit of TV (in our room) at some point between school and dinner, to help her wind down. And Sundays can often turn into little TV/film marathons – intentionally so – a wind-down day after the very busy week is really necessary. There’s usually still a trip to the park or even swimming as well.

We’d been considering getting a new TV and putting it in the living room at Christmas, because we felt she’d learnt to be happy without TV and to have no trouble amusing herself. And I wanted a TV in the living room, so I could iron, blog, draw… in front of it! But… the living room is going to stay TV-free for the foreseeable future, because the other morning, when Rosemary came upstairs with me while I changed Eleanor’s nappy she asked if she could have the TV on and when I refused she said ‘But I can’t be in this room without wanting to watch TV.’

And I’m OK, because Eleanor’s moved in with Rosemary, so I can watch TV in bed instead. Who needs to iron in front of the TV when you can sit in bed blogging in front of the TV instead? (Hmm, wonder where she got the TV gene from?)

How about you? Has the TV taken over in your house or do you manage to ration it? Have you tried living TV free? Does the idea scare you as much as it did me?

All photos except the top one taken with the Kodak EasyShare M580 Digital Camera, kindly provided by Kodak.