To think there is nothing actually wrong with watching TV.......

[Miaowing]

.... and for wondering why people get so snobbish and holier than thou about it.

DH and I are in our 50s and childfree by choice. We do stuff but we also watch a LOT of TV. Mainly box sets, movies and sport.

I read a lot - he doesn't but he never has. He's not a book person.

There is nothing IMHO wrong with watching TV yet on here it seems to be a badge of honour not to own one or to be so high and mighty that its beneath you.

In real life I do't know anyone like that - which does make me wonder how there are so many on here.

I think a lot of it is upbringing. My mum was strict with TV and we used to watch 1-2 hours maximum after school as primary age kids. Even as a retired adult now she would see it as a waste of time unless it was relaxing after dinner. I'm relatively strict with my DS and try and stick to 1 hour max on week days for him, in the evening as his chill out time, but more does sometimes sneak in especially in the summer holidays! He is only 3 though. However I know families with similar age kids who will have CBeebies or a film etc on in the background whenever they're at home.

I'm not one to sit in front of loads of day time TV (wishful thinking now with 2 small DC!) although saying that pre DC, DH and I would binge on something really good on a weekend day time eg Breaking Bad! If I had no small children and I got into something I don't think I'd hesitate to binge watch on a weekend day again!

I do find it takes something really good to get/keep me interested though, so maybe that's a factor for me.

Well, yes, only. A week is 168 hours. Subtract 40 hours for work, and 56 hours for sleep (assuming 8 hours/night) you still have 72 hours a week leftover.

8 hours a day at work - most people do a lot more, that would only be a 9 to 5, don't know anyone with one of those mythical jobs.
3 hours a day doing chores - sometimes more accurately 4
(up to ) 3 hours a day commuting
7 (ideally 8, but rare) hours sleep

that's not that much time left, when you use some of the remaining free time to be with your children.

Add studies, or sport, I can't see that much spare time at all.

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver I am out the house 9.30-5.30 at work including travelling, and am relatively senior, my DH is middle management I suppose you could say and even with a 90 mile round trip he is back home 6pm at the very latest, we dont need to do work in the evenings, I know plenty of people of people who work normal office hours, what a bizarre assumption. We do not do 3 hours of chores a day, I cook dinner and DH cleans up after, each that's probably 30 mins. Even before we had the cleaner we do not spend anywhere near 3 hours on chores after work, 1 hour MAX. I have studied a masters while commuting across London and that didn't stop me getting through a fair few Netflix boxsets! So while I know not everyone's situation is like mine, plenty aren't like what you're describing either!!

I write books.

I hear so many people saying 'I'll write a book when I have time (!)' who then go on to give me a complete run down of the plot of EastEnders, or who's sleeping with whom on Love Island.

And then people ask me how I have time to write books when I also have a day job. I explain that I rarely watch TV, and they look at me as if I'm mad. (I do watch TV, but mostly Netflix rather than 'live' TV).

We have a tv. My kids mainly watch stuff, usually Disney channel or they like animal documentaries, from their choice. I maybe watch two hours a week on my choice plus a couple of hours a week catch up on a tablet. One dc hates anything that might have blood in it so this restricts me from even watching things like re runs of Doc Martin when they are awake. Bc same child has sleep issues I can only watch catch up with headphones as child needs silence in the evenings.

namby
my train is packed at 7 - 7:30 am when I go to work, so I am not the only one, and it's also packed with commuters when we go home between 7 and 8pm.
Even the car park at my kids school is still full at 6pm, teachers don't leave that early.

I am impressed if you manage to do 1 hour max of chores a day, I don't! But chores are banned at the weekend, so I only have Monday to Friday to do everything, apart from cooking diner and tidy up kitchen in the evening obviously.
By the time I clean the house, deal with the laundry, do the food shop, tidy up, it takes me a good couple of hours in the morning! Plus diner and tidy in the evening another hour.

that's not that much time left, when you use some of the remaining free time to be with your children. Add studies, or sport, I can't see that much spare time at all.

Not everyone does those things, though. If you have small children who are good sleepers and in bed by 7pm, you have the whole evening free. Choosing to spend that time watching TV and not studying is a perfectly legitimate and normal choice.

And spending 3-4 hours a day doing chores - why?! I probably spend 30 minutes maximum doing housework. Admittedly we don't have children, but none of the parents I know spend their entire evenings doing housework!

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver thankfully where I work 35 hours is full time and I can work from home up to 80% of the time. No we don't do chores on weekends either really, not a lot anyway, apart from a bit of tidying up, cleaner mid week, DH does laundry, I cook, shopping delivered, plenty of time for TV. I don't think we're that unusual, as I say even when we didn't have the cleaner never struggled. But we have the kind of jobs we leave in the office, aren't martyrs to doing more than we should (work flexi anyway) and don't have too high expectations on house.

Now homework, we're buggers for leaving that to the weekend! (Barring reading).

We love a box set on Sky Atlantic or Netflix, a good BBC drama...Peaky Blinders, Gentleman Jack etc and Sky Arts.
Never watch anything during the day even though I am at home.
I prefer music...I play vinyls for most of the day .

I actually do my food shop while watching tv 😂😂😂

Nothing wrong on principle but....
So many adverts for food, so many shows about food. There is scientific evidence that the brain changes into a more numbed state, not catatonic but more stilled whilst exposed to screen viewing.
Also, have you seen a programme about a topic you are more knowledgeable about than average? Did you feel it was accurate and aimed at a reasonable intelligence level?
Some programmes are wallpaper and harmless. Some are as above but if a genre is watched continuously can have s manipulative effect. I'm thinking of the "orrible murder" ones - always a poor innocent woman murdered brutally by some man - easy to get unnecessarily anxious.
News 24/7 - accurate or propaganda? Fake or omitting stories that might cause controversy? It depends.
There is a lot of smugness though

We don’t have a tv because a few years ago we moved house and couldn’t get the Aerial to work, after a couple of weeks without it we realised how much clarity we had for the world around us. I know it sounds very pompous but switching off from tv you realise how much you become like sheep, the adverts alone and the tone which presenters talk down to people is very manipulative.

I have a friend who can tell me everything about holiday places in the Mediterranean and yet she’s barely been, she goes via the tv, looking at crap houses in the depths of Spain’s mainland that no one ever buys. I don’t get it.

I enjoy TV if it's something I've chosen to watch rather than just watching anything.

However I spend too long browsing shite online which is probably a lot worse!

I’ve been off with my son for three weeks (we were on holiday for a week) and have another two to go. I cannot fill days on my own enough with activities or visits as I’m not made of money and there’s only so many times the same free activities are entertaining!

We watch films - we don’t watch Peppa Pig (though I love it) or any other pants shows on repeat. I’ve watched Box Trolls, Wall E, Spider-Man, Cars, Toy Story... and then we’ve played with the toys, then we’ve been for a walk, soft play, the park.... the tv has been my saviour in between!

Never watch my stuff lol

And spending 3-4 hours a day doing chores - why?! I probably spend 30 minutes maximum doing housework.

I don't manage in half an hour. I only do chores during the week, but I need a couple of hours in the morning, and it must take me an hour in the evening in total to cook diner, tidy the kitchen after, and do a quick tidy up of the house.

but none of the parents I know spend their entire evenings doing housework!
I know plenty of people who do just that... I prefer to do it in the morning!

I have 4 kids, so just changing the bedsheet of 5 beds + the guest room once a week must take me a good half an hour a week.

It's not being a martyr to enjoy a tidy and pleasant house, but it does take a bit of time to keep toilets and bathrooms clean, and clean the house a minimum.

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver to be fair 4 children isn't average so of course your free time will be much more limited, I only have 2, and as I say spend much less time than that on house work.

I honestly don't think I spent that much less when I only had the first 2

I do know that I start when I get up at 6, and finish when I have a quick shower before leaving around 7:30 - 8am in the week. I do love a tidy house though to be fair, but I'd rather go the gym. Chores or not, I couldn't leave the kids alone anyway, so chores it is.

My mum is incredibly snobbish about TV and it really annoys me. She won't watch anything on a channel with commercials and often tells me "I only watch TV a few times a year" - completely omitting that she watches DVDs or "the iplayer" several times a week. I often have the radio on via my TV when I'm doing some crafty or pottering about the house and she views that as watching the TV too. She also thinks that the smaller your TV the better you are and never fails to comment on the size of our TV (it's really not that large).
Personally I think people should be free to watch as much or little TV as they like, we have ours on most evenings but during the day it tends to be off unless we're ill or just need something brainless.

Watching TV is probably more productive than being on Mumsnet.

We watch loads of Netflix/prime and let our 1 year old watch a fair bit too... She has a good balance though, Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee keep her entertained long enough for me to get a few things done. Her third word was Peppa! She absolutely loves it.

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver I like a tidy house too, but doesn't get messy when we're all out 5 days a week, I'd have nothing to do in the mornings because we do a quick tidy up before they're in bed so mornings are tidy anyway! I'd have less time with 4 children just for the sheer amount of homework (are you sensing a theme as to what the bain of my life is?!) anyways shows how we're all different. I'm not very active I'm ashamed to admit, slim I will quickly add, but not active, we get out on the weekends but have to admit after work all I want to do is slum it on the sofa!!

I love the fact that the first reply on the thread is from someone who doesn't have a tv .

Apparently it's not as bad for you if you;
a) watch it on a laptop or even better a phone or tablet to maximise the discomfort;
b) Only watch Netflix;

c) Only watch documentaries.

I like watching TV I find after a stress day at work it’s just chewing gum for the eyes and helps me to relax.

Of course tv is fabulous. So are books. Hobbies. Etc etc
I'm selective about what I watch, my DH will watch just about anything. My best friend has it on all the time. Another friend loves reality tv and soaps. My DM is 88 and housebound-she's be lost and terribly lonely without it.
Each to their own, I believe.
We are busy people so it's nice to sit down and be entertained.

I work full time, I'm a single parent of busy kids, I have 2 Master's degrees and keep my home tidy everyday.

I said all that to say, I MUST watch TV. I watch at least 2 hours of TV every day and still have time to do everything else. It keeps me sane. I watch all types too, ranging from documentaries, political debates, news AND Real Housewives. I never miss GOT, Handmaid's Tale, Greys Anatomy or Riviera.

Watching TV or not watching TV is a personal choice not a judgement of character.

I love a bit of TV. Don’t really have time to watch it during the week between work, exercise, socialising and chores. Maybe 0-5 hours over Monday to Friday.

At the weekends I’ll watch probably 3 hours a day if we’re home.

Zero if we are away hiking/camping/climbing/biking which we are pretty much alternate weekends in summer.

Probably much more tv in winter when it’s dark at 4.