Do you have the tv on in the background all day when you are home ?

[IcandothisactuallyIcan]

I don't and my DH says I'm weird as whenever he gets home he puts the tv straight on.

So I'm at home with our nearly one year old all day. DH says I'm the only mum who doesn't watch daytime tv in the background whilst playing/looking after DD.

I didn't have the TV on with my older DS either, although he had daily some tv time everyday once he could focus on it (so from 18 months onward maybe.) My DS had a speech delay and my DH says it because the house is so quiet due to no TV. I of course I do talk to the kids. I do however look at my phone for texts and MN a bit , but try not to all the time, so I guess that's the modern reading a book whilst looking after the kids. He could be right that I'm unusual. I suppose I've never thought to have the tv on and only put it on for the kids to watch stuff. I hadn't considered having bargain hunt on whilst playing cars. Maybe I'll try it for lockdown 2, instead of going out and having occasional company.

So in houses where you say its "always on."

Dont you ever talk to each other? Have conversations? Do you turn it off then?

When do you do stuff in the house or are you always watching tv? Do you leave it til a break between programs to do cooking etc?

What about mealtimes? Are you still watching tv?

Dont you ever do anything else at home? Read a book? Play games? Housework? Are uou literally watching tv all day?
Im just trying to fathom the logistics of always watching tv. I think I watch too much since lockdown as I bingwatch a series occasionally. But even then we're talking a few hours here and there not all day!!

Surely you have people over? Do they just come over to eatch tv too?

I dont believe anyone watches tv all day. Even the worst couch potato cant be doing it all day.

If Ihad the TV on I'd get nothing done.

I have the radio on.

I'm a community HCP and a lot of older people have the TV on all day for company.
My DM has partial hearing and her TV blasts away for hours. I get a headache every time I visit.

Always off unless it is actually being watched, which only ever happens in the evening unless somebody is ill.

Yes I have it on most of the day, I love it and find the background noise comforting.
There is no wrong or right, you are your own person and should do what makes you happy.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake yes we have conversations, we have them over the tv. I do things in the house in the break or when DS is watching tv or when there isn't anything on that interests me.

I work full time from home and the tv is still on when I'm working, I read books but again the tv is on as well.

People come round (pre covid) and the tv is still on, I will normally just turn it down a bit so we can hear each other fully, it depends who it is.

Meal times yes the tv is on, it only ever gets switched off if we leave the house.

No, I prefer silence. I never listen to the radio and only put the tv on to actually watch something. That's a thing of the past now though since DH retired, he has noise in the background from morning till night from the tv or the radio. Thankfully he still has a couple of full days a week out of the house.

Yes, but that’s because I don’t have a radio and there’s no aerial on our telly. If I’m home with my toddler, then I won’t bother, because we play and stuff, but I don’t like the emptiness and hollowness of a house with no noise!

Wow thirsty. I can't imagine being able to chat to a friend and watch tv at the same time! I've got to 40 with never doing that. I've watched tv with others, or movie nights etc. But I actually couldnt meet up for a chat and watch tv at the same time.

I’m with you OP. We put on the TV only to watch specific programmes. I don’t even have the radio on unless I’m in on my own and even then it’s only occasionally.
I can’t stand background noise and a tv is so distracting.

Yes, but that’s because I don’t have a radio and there’s no aerial on our telly.

What do you watch then? A snowstorm with a hissing soundtrack.

Or have a meal watching tv. I like to talk when we eat!

I can imagine watching a lot of tv just cant actually imagine my whole life being lived in the gaps.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake

So in houses where you say its "always on."

Dont you ever talk to each other? Have conversations? Do you turn it off then?

When do you do stuff in the house or are you always watching tv? Do you leave it til a break between programs to do cooking etc?

What about mealtimes? Are you still watching tv?

Dont you ever do anything else at home? Read a book? Play games? Housework? Are uou literally watching tv all day?
Im just trying to fathom the logistics of always watching tv. I think I watch too much since lockdown as I bingwatch a series occasionally. But even then we're talking a few hours here and there not all day!!

I think - this is based on my parents' house, where as I said it's always on - you're overestimating the extent to which it's actively being watched. If I go round to my parents we talk non-stop, but the TV is always on in the background. It's on during cooking, mealtimes, etc - often muted (my parents normally have sport on, so not having the sound doens't make such a big difference). They do a lot more housework than I do, and are both big readers (now, in retirement - when they both worked full-time I only remember them reading on holiday) but the TV would be on, either mute or on low. I think if you're not used to it it's really weird and annoying - I find it incredibly distracting at their house, which is why I try and turn it off, but I must have been more used to it when I lived there - but for them there's a big distinction between having the TV on and actually watching it (you wouldn't be allowed to talk during GBBO, for instance!) that doesn't exist in my house where we only turn the TV on to actively watch something then turn it off again.

People come round (pre covid) and the tv is still on, I will normally just turn it down a bit so we can hear each other fully, it depends who it is

You don't even turn the sound off when someone has called in?
I fully get the "My house, my rules" etc and presumably your friends find it usual and don't see it as being odd and or rude, but what's gained from having it on in those circumstances?
Is it that you both keep half an eye/ear on it and it gives you something to talk about?

No, I largely sit in silence which my DH also finds weird. I can’t stand the noise and flashing images from the TV if we’re not even watching anything.

@Bwlch

Yes, but that’s because I don’t have a radio and there’s no aerial on our telly.

What do you watch then? A snowstorm with a hissing soundtrack.

We don't have an aerial on our TV either - we only watch catch-up or netflix. In our old house the aerial just didn't work for reasons that were unclear (but we didn't put much effort into investigating) and now we're just used to never watching 'live' TV so haven't even bothered trying to connect the aerial in this (relatively new) house.

My husband says that I definitely over-use the phrase "This reminds me of an episode of 'Friends' ".

But...
This reminds me of an episode of 'Friends':

Joey: I play Dr. Drake Ramoray.

Sarah: I'm sorry, I don't own a TV.

Joey: You don't own a TV? What's all your furniture pointed at?

Incidentally I associate the constantly on TV thing mostly with older people, not young ones - I have quite a few friends with parents who do it, but no one my age (33) I know does. The very high grandparental allowance for TV time for toddlers is a frequent complaint among other parents I know of my age - they all have it on much more than we do, and are much more relaxed about how much TV a toddler 'should' watch! People my age and younger are glued to screens in other ways, but the only people I know who do the TV on constantly thing are my parents' age or older.

Only in the evening to specifically watch something. Never through the day and never as background. My mum used to do this and it drove me nuts 😬

It's also, if we're honest, very much a class thing (waits to be flamed for mentioning c-word)

Absolutely not.
If I have a guest or someone in the house who has come into the room where the TV is, I turn it off to say hello, or pause it if I am watching something.

I couldn't abide having the TV on all the time and DH is the same, if we aren't watching it then it gets turned off. DD will follow suit and turn it off too when she has finished watching something.

If I am round someone else's house then if course it is their house and I wouldn't dream of asking to turn it off.

Hardbackwriter

Incidentally I associate the constantly on TV thing mostly with older people, not young ones

Well, I'm mid-50s and in my youth I was happy whiling away my time with a ball of yarn and a cotton reel with pins in it.
I don't trust the magic box of colours in the corner and, if I leave it on all day, it might steal my soul.

(Yes, me too, Hard - my neighbour in her 80s uses it to combat loneliness and boredom)

I really don't get the people saying "no - because daytime TV is dross"

I don't even remember the last time I watched anything on live TV. I watch programmes on Netflix, Prime, NowTv, YouTube or Disney or catch up

But you presumably don't have the TV on all day "in the background", then? I assume in that context people have it on live TV dross because the only thing weirder than that would be letting Netflix or Prime roll through proper shows all day long when they're not actually watching.