The Intervention

When Brian and I got married almost 10 years ago, there was one thing we decided not to do when we got married. This came highly recommended from a friend of his who had been married for a long time. He told Brian that he shouldn't put a t.v. in the master bedroom. I remember when Brian first told me about the conversation he had with his friend I thought he was nuts. My whole single life I always had a t.v. in my room and I just assumed when you got married you carried on with that tradition. I have to be honest, I wasn't totally sold on the idea, but I went along with it to be a good wife.

Can I tell you it was probably one of the best decisions we have ever made in our marriage. I don't miss it at all. We're able to talk and pray together before falling asleep instead of letting the t.v. put us to sleep. We also decided that we would never let the kids have a t.v. in their rooms either, so it shocked me when Sydney, who is just 3, came up and asked me if she could have a t.v. in her room. Over my dead body I told her. You may disagree with me on my stance here with children having t.v.'s in their room and that's ok, but I just don't think it's healthy for a child to have a t.v. in their room, period. I believe we are raising a generation of young people who would sit in front of a t.v. all day long if we let them. I'm speaking from experience here and it's not something I am proud of. Gone are the days that kids went outside and played until the street lights came on. Do you remember those days? I do and they were wonderful and I want my girls to have that same experience.

I have come to the conclusion, over the last month or so, that Sydney is addicted to television. She needed an intervention. The child could sit there all day and watch it if I let her. I have to say that over the last couple of months since losing Jonathan, the girls have watched more t.v. than I would have liked, but there were some days I just couldn't get out of bed and so unfortunately the t.v. became the babysitter. I'm sure most moms can relate to that. It's not something I beat myself up over, but it was the truth, and something needed to be done about it.

On Friday night I told Brian what I wanted to do and he supported me all the way. Saturday morning we took the big flatscreen out of our playroom upstairs. Sydney went ballistic. I knew she would, but I was not prepared for the major tantrum she was going to throw. It broke my heart. Not because she was crying, but because of the fact she loved t.v. so much. She carried on for about 20 minutes until daddy took her downstairs. She just kept saying, "Don't take my t.v.. Please don't take my t.v. away". It reassured me I was doing the right thing.

Now the upstairs hang out has become a place where we can read books and play games as a family and I love it. It is so peaceful coming up the stairs and not seeing that big box staring back at me. I'm going one step further and posting the t.v. on Craig's List tonight. I want it gone. I don't want any temptation for putting it back. We've also decided to drop our cable to the very basic channels. Now that's a really big step for us, but one I feel our family needs to take. Sydney wasn't the only one addicted. I too was addicted. I'm a person that would have it on even if no one was home just for the noise. Anyone else do that? I guess I just wanted some company. Since our loss, I have turned off the t.v. and turned on the praise music. It is something that has helped in my healing process. I can't tell you what a comfort it is to my soul.

Here's what I have realized. Life is so short and I don't want to regret the hours I spent in front of the t.v. when I could have been making memories with my children. I want my children to remember the fun and active things we did as a family and not the movies they watched.

I would love to hear from you if you have taken this step in your family. Maybe you have removed the t.v. from your home all together. I would love to get to that point (we still have 2 t.v.'s left in the house). I think I'm just looking for some moral support because I know this is not going to be easy.

Well off to post on Craig's list. If you are in the Nashville area and would like to buy a 52 inch flatscreen let me know. Ha. :)