To ditch our TV?

[Toodleloodle]

I'm thinking about getting rid of our TV. I have a baby and a toddler (2.5 years) and when they eventually go to sleep, we just spend our evening vegetating in front of the telly. Yes, we've watched some good documentaries and dramas, but we also watch a lot of trash. From 6am - 7pm I'm looking after small children - I have so little free time that it just seems mad to spend it staring passively at a box instead of, say, reading, doing something creative, exercising, actually having a proper conversation with DH etc. I'm just not sure it's actually relaxing and I feel like I'm wasting my life. I'm also relying on the TV a lot to entertain my toddler at the moment and she's basically obsessed with Peppa Pig. Does anyone else feel the same? Have you got rid of your TV or at least managed to cut down? Have you noticed any impact on your kids?

@tttigress

I had no TV for about 5 years, but to be honest these days, what is a TV? It is just another screen, you couy watch all the same stuff on a tablet or laptop.

Therefore, I think you need to get disciplined, not just do the big act of throwing away the TV.

I agree. All this stuff about not having a TV yet watching stuff on smaller screens, so in fact people are doing their own thing and watching a screen but on their own, whereas there’s something special about watching a tv series or film together as a family or couple or whatever.

We’ve been watching some great Netflix series and just finished “Arcane”. Then an in-depth discussion about it, ditto the other series or film. Obviously that’s different to watching it as wallpaper. I agree with the pp upthread who suggested getting rid of the “live” TV.

whereas there’s something special about watching a tv series or film together as a family or couple or whatever.

I couldn't agree with you more. DD is away at university, but I am recording all the Call The Midwife episodes for us to watch together.

DD and I were watching Call the Midwife yesterday and had great fun predicting the issues. Personally I feel more relaxed after watching TV than mindless scrolling on my phone.

I couldn't live without my TV, but each to their own. I watch it for a few hours every day. It gives me company and let's me switch off.

This is the golden age of tv, its overtaken cinema. I'm thinking of getting a bigger one!

I don’t watch tv. I read or listen to audiobooks instead. I would be happy getting rid of ours. But my son isn’t small anymore ( he is 18 ). Not sure I would have taken it away when he was little though.

I’ve just replaced our 13 year old TV (which was a hand me down). I was so excited to have UHD, I would not be without it.

@Paranoidandroidmarvin

I don’t watch tv. I read or listen to audiobooks instead. I would be happy getting rid of ours. But my son isn’t small anymore ( he is 18 ). Not sure I would have taken it away when he was little though.

It’s great that you listen to audiobooks. TV is a bit like that but with pictures too.

I don't watch that much tv these days. I used to watch loads, all the soaps and hospital dramas religiously. Now we don't have cable or anything so I only watch stuff on the fire stick and tends to be stuff recommended to me. My DD likes things like the masked singer but we don't even watch that all the time. I definitely prefer reading these days.

I love reading (but my concentration isn't so great at the moment) but watching a tv programme together feels more sociable. DH and I discuss what we watch. I'll watch some things he hates, like The Masked Singer', with one of my daughters and that is a way of staying connected with her as we don't do much else together. I also have series I watch alone, when ironing etc.

I don't like live TV any more though. Even if it's on live, I try to watch on the app so I can pause and rewind etc. Sometimes I watch on my phone in bed.

The only time in my life when I had zero interest in tv was when I was at university.

I don't particularly want to chat all evening after work, unless out with a friend I haven't seen for a while. We tried playing scrabble the other night but I didn't enjoy it as much as I remembered from the past. I had to wait ages between goes as DH was determined to get the highest scores and I couldn't be bothered to make quite the same effort.

TV is great these days and there is so much to watch. Some amazing documentaries as well as drama. Why is it less worthy than reading or sewing or whatever? It also helps give you cultural connections with other people. One of my dds has ADHD and I used to encourage her to watch eg X Factor in order to give her something to talk to others about at school as she isn't the greatest conversationalist.

You can always turn it off or hide the remote! My younger dd has never been a great tv watcher. Mind you, she's glued to social media these days- but she keeps in touch with a ton of people that way and has made new friends via it so I feel there are lots of positives.

I did this recently! For the same reasons as you OP. We've been about 2 months without our telly now and I'm enjoying it. We're interacting/speaking more as a family and DH and I are doing fun things together in the evening like crosswords

I have been enjoying the Fleetwood Mac evening - on TV. Yes I could listen to some Fleetwood Mac CDs (because we still have CDs in our house), but watching and listening to these talented musicians playing live was better.

@RampantIvy

we do stare at phones a lot and use YouTube on laptops

At least you admit to using screens though.
Having crap eyesight and not great hearing (thank you measles) I prefer to stare at a TV.

It is the virtue signallers who talk disparagingly about TVs that irritate me because they are often so hypocritical as they do use screens, just smaller ones.

Interesting that you said i admitted it like it's some kind of "bad" thing. There's an inner conflict going on if people are doing something repeatedly and feeling uncomfortable feelings regularly as a result.

I haven't owned a TV in well over a decade. I wish I could get rid of my mobile phone too. Life's infinitely better without them.

We keep ours stored on a high shelf (its really small so easy to move). We get it out when we want to watch DVDs. Its never connected to an aerial. We watch stuff online on a laptop too. Its been our habit for 20 years now, wouldnt have it any other way (my teen/young adult children agree)

@Toodleloodle

I'm thinking about getting rid of our TV. I have a baby and a toddler (2.5 years) and when they eventually go to sleep, we just spend our evening vegetating in front of the telly. Yes, we've watched some good documentaries and dramas, but we also watch a lot of trash. From 6am - 7pm I'm looking after small children - I have so little free time that it just seems mad to spend it staring passively at a box instead of, say, reading, doing something creative, exercising, actually having a proper conversation with DH etc. I'm just not sure it's actually relaxing and I feel like I'm wasting my life. I'm also relying on the TV a lot to entertain my toddler at the moment and she's basically obsessed with Peppa Pig. Does anyone else feel the same? Have you got rid of your TV or at least managed to cut down? Have you noticed any impact on your kids?

For me, I don't watch any live broadcast tv, mines YouTube for documentaries, music 🎶video's, and various educational topics. If I set a routine then I can focus and e.g. Study x part of a topic,

I’d hate to not have a TV. We’ve got 8 of them. We watch quite a bit on Netflix, Prime and Disney +.
I love watching a film together as a family and don’t like watching on a small laptop screen.

Thanks for your comments everyone, really interesting.

First those who were asking about my DH's opinion on the subject - he's broadly on the same page and has the same kind of concerns I have. He finds it quite difficult to focus on activities such as reading in the evenings though as he's pretty exhausted from work, so we'd need to have a think about other ways to fill the time.

To those of you who just say switch it off / limit your use - you clearly have more will power than me! I just find myself gravitating towards it when I'm tired or bored... the same reason I can't have chocolate or biscuits in the house!

I think I'm leaning towards keeping the tv but moving it to another room. There are lots of advantages to tv - some good programmes and it is more sociable than reading, for example. However, I really don't want it to become the focal point of my main living space or my evenings, and therefore I think we need to make some kind of change.

We put on music on the tv in the evening when we are not actively watching something. It has been much more relaxing than watching programmes I wouldn’t actively seek out. I’d try a week not turning on the tv at least to see if you miss it.

Op I agree with what ur doing and yes it is hard when it is just sitting there and not falling into old ways. What u need to do is fill the gap with something to do other wise it will just go back on.

We don’t have a tv and don’t miss it. But no small children here.

@Stressedout1009

It's on when I visit my parents but they watch an endless cycle of antique hunt programs or competitive cooking etc. So utterly boring.

I get my iPad out and read a book on the kindle app ( No I can't watch anything on the iPad, the sound failed years ago and it's only any use as an eBook reader!)