Joanna Goddard (of A Cup of Jo) and her husband gave up TV for a week. It sounds like they had a great week.
I’m a big fan of TV in moderation. Personally, I can go all day and barely have it on, and not just because I’m at work–I often don’t watch much TV when I’m home sick, for example.
And when it is on these days, we’re most likely watching “Sesame Street” episodes on the DVR, or some other form of children’s television provided by Sprout TV (but not “Caillou“! Not “Caillou”!).
So what that means is that for me, getting to watch Actual Grownup Shows is something of a treat–because mostly they just stack up in the DVR. And now the only time Mr. Sandwich and I are likely to watch them is when we’re both home without Baguette. Because at night, we’re all up or we’re all in bed. There’s no “after she gets to bed, we’ll watch a couple of episodes of ‘Louie‘.”
(And that’s too bad. I love “Louie.” I love it so much that I’m reasonably at peace with Louis CK’s decision to take a year off so that he can keep the quality high. Because–nooooooo!—but okay, because I’ll make that trade for a show that good.)
But this, in case you were wondering, is why we have something like 27 episodes of “Castle” just sitting there in the DVR. Waiting. And waiting.
I’m happy to get 2-4 hours per week and sometimes I’m lucky to watch 1 hour of TV per week. It’s not something I would give up. I actually think most people now waste more time in front of the computer or on their smartphones/tablets than TV, but I don’t watch much sports which can add up to a lot of TV time on the weekends.
I definitely spend more time on the computer, but even that’s been reduced a lot because Baguette wants me to snuggle with her–some nights I don’t even pick up the laptop!
The main thing is that she does not go to bed early–and we don’t go to bed late, because we have to get up early for our commutes. So there wouldn’t be much “grownup” time in the evenings even if she weren’t the night owl she is.
I don’t have a problem with TV in moderation either. My kids spend plenty of time doing other activities, including reading and playing outside. They also spend all day at preschool/daycare where they don’t watch any TV. As for Caillou, I can’t stand that show. I find him annoying, and, as a parent of identical twins, I do not like the running gag of how no one can tell Jeffrey and Jason apart.
For a while, I wondered if we were letting Baguette watch too much TV, but lately she hasn’t even asked for it much. Sometimes I’ll ask her if she wants to watch Elmo, and she won’t even respond. I figure that’s fine–she watches it when she’s interested, but lately she’d rather draw on paper or her chalkboard. That seems like reasonable moderation to me. And she gets no TV at day care, either, which is why I’ve long been okay with letting her watch some at home.
Those nights when our little guy is up late and we still have to sleep early can be some of the most tiring nights (end ensuing days) for me. He’s been skipping naps so I have an excuse for early bedtime these last few weeks 🙂
Oh, absolutely. Baguette would skip naps if she could, but it is very clear that she cannot. Not yet, anyhow.