So long, TV

Well, not really. But the beast is out of the living room, and I'm amazed at how different the space feels without the big black altar in the corner. The room seems more open, warmer, quieter — even though the TV was usually off.

Once the TV corner, now a reading nook.

And talk about out of sight, out of mind...my husband asked me last night if a certain, um, reality singing competition was on, and I hadn't even thought about it without the visual reminder (after a brief moment of panic, I determined that it was not, in fact, an American Idol night).

Did I just lose all credibility by mentioning American Idol? So be it. I have weaknesses.

Since we don't have cable, my viewing options are pretty limited, but I do enjoy a few shows. We also like to watch movies, so tossing out the TV entirely would not have made sense. Removing the television from our main living space, however, will likely reduce the amount I watch, slow my daughter's interest in finding out what the big box is all about, and has already had a humanizing effect on our home.

Speaking of kids and TV: people, what's going on here?

My 2-year-old daughter doesn't watch TV. I'm not militant about it (for example, if we're over at someone else's house, I don't ask that the TV be turned off), and I can't say that I even gave the issue much thought. There was no researched-based decision to keep the TV out of my girl's life; I just don't turn it on during her waking hours — why would I? Now, I realize that my kid is pretty independent and plays well on her own; if I had an extremely demanding child I might be more tempted to use the TV as a way to give myself a break. I don't know. But I think any child can find sources of entertainment that are, dare I say, even more interesting than TV. I won't cite the many statistics related to kids and TV viewing, but they are appalling. Yet, no one else in my circle of friends has made the no-TV choice; these are educated, progressive people, but many of their 2-year-olds already have favorite animated characters. Can someone make sense of this for me, because I just don't get it. Will I ever allow my daughter to watch TV? Sure. I don't think it's the root of all evil, and mindless entertainment has its place. We can't all be philosophers, and I'm not sitting up on some cloud of virtue judging parents whose kids watch TV. But is my daughter missing anything right now? Absolutely not.