t.v.-free tuesday

In late 2004, I became increasingly annoyed with the amount of time my family watches television. The Man and I had to decide whether to 1) continue paying a huge cable bill, 2) switch to a satellite provider or 3) ditch it all, slap a great big antenna on our house and teach the children to lean this way to see CBS. I was all in favor of #3, but The Man is a fan of television and was enchanted by the thought of having the option to purchase the NFL Sunday Ticket. He chose option #2 and I didn’t threaten enough bodily harm to stop him. We don’t have the Sunday Ticket, though. We will not have the Sunday Ticket. Ever, honey. Just. Stop. SHH. No.

If there is television to watch, I’ll watch it and I have confessed to my fair share of shitty television viewing. Laguna Beach, anyone? Big Brother? DOG THE BOUNTY FREAKING HUNTER? (Whiny excuse-making: But most of my viewing is planned and doesn’t involve channel surfing. I’d rather surf the Ninnernet.) In an attempt to limit television viewing and promote more quality family time and foster creativity and imaginative play, I pitched the idea of T.V.-Free Tuesdays and got my way in January 2005. Since then I’ve planned to do my homework and research and lay out all the reasons why television is best consumed in moderation or not at all. But I’m a huge slacker. So you’ve all been watching television mindlessly for a year because I’m lazy. I’m sorry.

I’m going to make it up to you and myself and my family now. I went to the library tonight, even. Checked out some books on the subject. I’ll be compiling the information and feeding it to you in horrifyingly hard-to-swallow doses. (Never fear. I have rum in the cupboard!)

While I’m busy researching my point of view so I can convince my family there is more to life than staring at an electronic box of sex and violence (I know! This isn’t going to be easy!), I present you with three things:

The T.V.-Free Tuesday banner:

The T.V.-Free Tuesday buttons:

The T.V.-Free Tuesday Challenge:
Choose one day of the week that your household will be T.V.-Free. We’ve selected Tuesdays because those are the evenings we are all generally home and wanting to watch American Idol. It isn’t an easy day for us to leave the T.V. off so it feels like it counts. Maybe you’ll decide you need to start with an easier day to miss T.V. Maybe you’re already leaving it off one day and want to turn it off another! Maybe you’re altogether T.V.-Free and have advice and support to lend.

How ever you choose to participate, please save the graphic(s) to your own service or photo storing thingie and link back to this post so others may join in the fun. Spread the word, share the joy and check back for suggested reading, activities and links. Also, leave a comment so I can pay you a visit.

A big thank-you to Karen of Troll Baby who created the graphics for me. Please swing by her place to say hi.