This article on CNN reminded me of why I turned off my cable and my internet at my house.
It's true, not only have I saved roughly $150/month on my bills—but I also turned my house into an interaction zone!
Creative turn-a-phrase, but that's what it is. I made it a priority to not allow my young son (15 months) to watch TV, even for brief periods of time. He has watched probably 30 mins total TV time in his entire life, mostly by accident.
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I find that by not having the option to watch TV or go on the internet, I am much more free to do actual productive things. Did I mention that I'm writing a second book? Probably wouldn't happen if I had a million channels of sports to watch (love sports, mostly SPEED Channel).
(I read in Parenting Magazine that the average dad spends 6.5 hours a week with their kids. What the hell??!!!!)
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I have more time to spend with my son, I read more, I exercise a lot more, I can get out and do yard work, I can work on my car to get it ready for the road next year, I can clean the house, I can do my writing and photoshop, I can get out and photograph to make a little extra cash... It really does feel good to not feel as if I have a zillion hours of crap stuffed on my DVR.
Frankly, I advocate dumping all these plans. You won't have the temptation to be a Facebook widow or a WarCraft widow. You don't have to watch TV all the time to fill your evenings.
Not to mention the effects it has on young children to not be able to watch TV. The risk of ADHD goes down, creativity goes WAY up, they will want to interact with you more (which is a good thing), you can teach them more and overall have a more cohesive and connected family.
Isn't that what you always envisioned when you had kids?
I'm rooting for you,
~Eric
