The End of the Experiment?

First, Hi mom. Seems the only person that reads this blog is my mom. So. Hi.

I think that the experiment might be coming to an end. For a few reasons.

First, Rachel went over to a friend's house the other day to play and I told her friend's mom that if they got tired, she should feel free to have them watch some television. So they did, and on the way home in the car, Rachel said, "I want to go home and watch Dragon Tales!" I said (skirting around the fact that we don't have a Dragon Tales DVD), "Sure, you can watch TV!" But, my smart girl retorted with "No! I don't want to watch a VIDEO. I want to watch COMMERCIAL TELEVISION!" Keep in mind that this is a 3-year-old talking. Sitting at that stoplight, I suddenly saw the end of our televisionless life creeping in on us much faster than I'd anticipated.

Second, I missed the BCS Bowl. OSU lost miserably and all my friends and family said that it was better that I missed it, but sitting in my pin-drop quiet house with my baby daughter last night (big sister was out with daddy) absolutely SUCKED. I imagined the noise of the game, the whistles of the refs, and there I was, staring at a black screen because we have nothing but fuzz. And I found myself actually getting angry about the situation. I wanted to watch that game. I'd had a long day. I was exhausted. I'd worked from 7AM to 7PM and still wasn't done with my jobs, but I had to sit there in silence while the rest of the world got to drink a beer and watch OSU vs LSU. (At least that's how it felt.)

Third, I'm not convinced that we're really all that pure just because we don't have television. When I honestly look at how we spend our "down time" (those precious 1-2 hours that the kids are asleep and we're not comatose with fatigue), I'd say that 85% of the time now, we're on our computers. So one talking box has been replaced by another, really. Sure I might be communicating or writing while online, which is great, but often I'm just surfing. I'm shopping. I'm YouTubing. Is this somehow better for me than watching television?

Fourth, All television is not bad. I want to see the debates. I want to watch the Olympics (aren't they coming up?). I want to watch freaking football, people! (Of course the season is now over. Great.) What I don't want to watch now that I've officially broken my ties with TV, is reality television. It feels kind of 1984, freakishly doomsday to me now when I see it. Last night I was taking a late-night walk and I saw so many families sitting in their living rooms with the TV on some show where a person was doing some strange stunt in a huge pool or trying to lose the 200 pounds he/she'd gained while sitting on his/her ass watching television. Seems strange. But, not all television is this diabolical. Some of it's actually enlightening and inspiring and not just a waste of time. The key is to not waste away in front of the TV. The key, like with most things, is to use the television wisely and sparingly.

So I guess now I'm on a quest to try to convince my husband, who has become rather militantly anti-television, that we should reconnect. I think part of the reason he's not wanting a TV is because once he started talking to his colleagues about our decision to cut our cable, they all looked at him sideways like it wasn't a big deal because none of them have ever had cable. (He's a professor. That should explain a lot.) So I think he felt like he had finally figured out one of the big secrets of success in academia. I don't know. I could be wrong. But I want my TV back. And my daughter wants to watch Dragon Tales. Enough said.

Bye mom. I'll call you later. XO