Taming Your Television without Banishing It

by Claire on June 8, 2012

I’ve written about the kitchen heart several times. In fact, the Your Child’s Food 1 Year challenge is geared at revitalizing the kitchen heart. But where has the heart gone, if it is not in the kitchen anymore?

For many, the kitchen heart has been replaced by mechanical television heart. It is a poor substitution. Its soul is defined by others, often advertisers more instead in their bottom line than your child’s health or happiness. But you can return the kitchen heart without banishing your television from your house.

The secret is to be deliberate about your television usage. Limit it, and choose not only when you are watching, but when you are watching. This may be hard for you if your family often watches dinner in front of the television. But putting the television back in its proper place will free both your time and money to put towards a better cause – the family meal.

The first step I took was to get rid of the cable. All those channels with nothing to watch seemed like a waste to me. So we got rid of our cable. The television has stayed of for over a month at a time in this household. But we can’t keep our children in a vacuum, so I get my television from other sources, and I choose a few times a month to watch it – after dinner or before breakfast every now and then.

There are three good sources for getting videos – Netflix (both by mail and on demand), Amazon On Demand, and Hulu. With Hulu, you do have some commercials, but you can get many of the new shows as soon as they come out.

The best thing about all these solutions is that you can use them on your terms. You pick the shows, and you pick the times. You don’t just come home and flip on the television to see what is on. You will find this give you family time back, time to talk with your family.

Have you tamed your television? How have you done it?

Comments (20) -

Laura

6/11/2012 6:38:03 AM #

We don't watch a lot of TV anymore. I do watch the news while getting ready for work in the mornings. We may eat in front of the TV once or twice a week (if something is on we don't want to miss). My daughter is 16 & she isn't into TV like little ones are. She prefers to text....

Stopping by from VoiceBoks!

Claire

6/11/2012 10:19:44 AM #

Thanks Laura,

I think sometime people go too far in cutting tv out of their lives. Something like watching the news in the morning seems like a good use of the tv. Have you thought about recording the shows you don’t want to miss during dinner? Then you could watch them after dinner. Studies have shown that watching tv while eating leads to overeating and more health problems (because you are not paying attention to what you are eating).

Thanks,
Claire

Barb Webb

6/11/2012 8:08:18 AM #

Great post! I, too, think it's so important to pull the family away from the television. We have dinner at the table and there's no television anywhere near our kitchen area.

Claire

6/11/2012 10:23:50 AM #

Thanks Barb,

It is great that you have good family meals. I don’t have a television in my kitchen or dining room either. I’ve thought about it in the kitchen (or really a computer I can use as a television) so I could look at recipes, and follow along with a recipe that I am cooking. I’ve held off though, as I don’t want to watch television in the kitchen.

Thanks,
Claire

Jennifer H

6/11/2012 11:55:09 AM #

I think limiting tv is perfectly fine. Engaging with the family and the outside world is important.

Claire

6/11/2012 8:38:59 PM #

Thanks Jennifer

Columba Lisa Smith

6/11/2012 12:52:30 PM #

I haven't lived with TV since I was a teenager! However, I constantly work to keep my kids' time on the internet limited. We do have Netflix now, and while it's nice to be able to watch a movie when we want, I regret that we don't spend nearly as much time reading together at night anymore. Also, we like watching different shows. My daughter watches Dr. Who on the laptop, my oldest son reads online, and my middle son and I have been watching the Lost series - all at once! Not exactly bringing the family together, *sigh*. I don't like the violence on Lost, either, so we discuss that a lot. But I wonder if watching it hasn't been against my better judgment. With the troubles we've had without TV, you can see why I've never let TV in, lol!

Claire

6/11/2012 8:46:17 PM #

Thanks Lisa,

It sounds like you have your own form of tv - the internet. And that is where you are watching your tv from. I can see why you don't have a tv (my family did not get one until I was older). For many, having no form of tv seems like too much sacrifice, but for some, it just seems natural. Those people are blessed, and not my family these days.

Thanks,
Claire

Alicia

6/11/2012 2:11:31 PM #

I keep tv limited most days there are the odd day where they will watch more. But when the weather is nice the tv is off. It has always been limited so it isn't a big things for the kids. Also we don't have cable so I find it easier to limit when there isn't a continuous stream of tv. a movie ends and it is done. Nothing else coming on right after. So much easier

Claire

6/11/2012 8:45:21 PM #

Thanks Alicia,

It sounds like you have a good balance going on. And I love that when a netflix is done, it is done, nothing coming on after it. You can be so much more deliberate in how you spend your time!

Thanks,
Claire

RJ, the HOPE Coach

6/11/2012 4:05:49 PM #

As a parenting coach I'm a big advocate of finding ways for parents to engage with their kids without having to compete with the television. It seems there's a whole generation of families who have the television on constantly, and eating a family meal with the tv as a centerpiece has become commonplace. When my boys and I decided to "tame the television", it was actually a little painful! We were unaccustomed to having real conversations and quiet mealtime was uncomfortable at first. Now, we look forward to mealtimes and have used it to catch up with each other about what's happening. The change was definitely worth it!

Claire

6/11/2012 8:50:53 PM #

Thanks RJ,

I agree that it can be painful to remove the tv from the center of your home. As you noted, it is so worth doing. In the end, the benefits seem so worth it, but in the beginning it can be hard to see where it is going to lead. It is great that you took this step for your family, and encourage it for other as a parenting coach.

Thanks,
Claire

Addicted to Recipes

6/11/2012 8:20:21 PM #

I would love to decrease the amount our tv is on at home, but it's my husband's preferredchoice for "down time". And he's a sports nut. Now that we have kids, he has stopped watching so much football and baseball, but not hockey. We are all hockey fans, so I'm OK with that. I do try to curb the amount of tv that our oldest watches, I would much rather him play outside or sit and read with him or colour or play games. Again, I need to work on my hubby! LOL. Good thing I have a stubborn side Thanks for your post!

Claire

6/11/2012 8:57:02 PM #

I hope that your family also enjoys going to games and maybe even playing games. It can be hard to make a change, especially if the change is away from something you love like sports. I took a straight route with my husband - I simply informed him we were not having the tv on during dinner anymore. He complained for about a week, and then all was good. I was surprised it worked so well, and doubt it would have worked as well if he had been into sports.

Thanks,
Claire

kathryn

6/12/2012 10:58:55 AM #

We are big television watchers in our house but we also are sure to moderate. I like quality shows. I'm not really into reality television too much or anything really dumb and I don't let my son watch anything but pbs and movies really but this last month we realized we needed to save some money for other things and so we are choosing to move to hulu plus and get rid of our tivo/cable. We don't watch tv during dinner or really until after the kids are in bed (that's when I catch up on my shows) but we decided it would save us enough money to at least cover the gas money it's going to take to drive my son to his activities (about 45 minutes away) so it's worth the change for us. great post! I agree that tv needs to be moderated.

Claire

6/12/2012 8:31:35 PM #

Thanks Kathryn,

It sounds like you enjoy your television, but don't let it override other parts of your life. That is great! I use Hulu for current shows (like glee), but don't pay for hulu plus. This means I have to wait for some of my shows, but that is fine by me. I think it works great for getting your shows while saving some money.

Thanks,
Claire

Katy Emanuel

6/13/2012 7:53:20 AM #

We don't watch much television in our house as we don't allow our 9 month old any screen time. We prefer to spend time outside as a family or quiet time together once our daughter has gone down for the night. We have gotten back into playing cards and board games instead.

Claire

6/13/2012 8:30:55 PM #

Thanks Katy,

The time you have with your family must be wonderful! I remember playing board games with my family growing up. Such good memories.

Thanks,
Claire

Kenya G. Johnson

6/15/2012 5:11:17 AM #

My husband and I have been without cable for a long time - like ten years or so. While I am familiar with shows I don't get but I also I'm not missing much. When I visit my mom I could sit all day and watch HGTV so I know I don't need that here. Not to mention is it ridiculously expense to have just to "flip channels". We have Netflix streaming. I may add on the discs just for the summer (I did that last year) and it worked out great. I would get one kid movie and one adult one (of course I had to watch both )

Claire

6/15/2012 7:53:10 AM #

Thanks Kenya,

It has been about 7 years for us. The cooking channel is the one I would sit and watch, not nearly as good as making food. I would much rather spend the money on better quality food for Samantha than on cable. It is neat that you do the disks in the summer, kind of a summer treat.

Thanks,
Claire

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Taming Your Television without Banishing It

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