No more magic box….

Well we did it! No more television for the Masons. I have been meaning to try this for quite some time now and finally 1) convinced Aaron, 2) got up the nerve, and 3) shut off the tube, got off my lazy butt, and took in the converter box.

Why might you ask?…here are just some of the reasons:

1) I hate Time Warner!, always have…it’s a racket what they charge, that they won’t sell packages with ala-cart options, and dealing with service people stinks!
2) It’s expensive – cable alone was costing us nearly $70 a month…that’s $840 a year…that’s a lot of dough.
3) It was making us fat and lazy! We found ourselves beaching ourselves on the couch and watching television just to watch it…watching reruns we’d seen a hundred times, watching Judge shows, watching crap. Hopefully now we will read more, spend more time outside, eat at the dining room table opposed to the coffee table, and generally be more productive people.
4) Aaron might not agree with this one, but I do. With a baby on the way…how much would we really watch? And, as we attempt to be responsible parents and raise a well adjusted, smart, creative, individual…is a television the best influence? While I realize that there are strong arguments for and against this and several schools of thought, here is one recent article that I found on the topic…Others have also offered good commentary when it comes to the downfalls of television…Barbara Kingsolver in “Small Wonders” and Jensen in “The Culture of Make Believe.”

Now this is not to say that we won’t also watch movies or even old sitcoms on DVD – we will. In fact, we just signed up for NetFlix. But, hopefully this will limit the amount and types of show we do watch. And besides, you can stream a lot now on the internet or better yet read things in the newspaper or books.

I am really hoping that we can stick to this and be more productive as a result. I am also really hoping that we’ll save some money. I have been warned about the detox process that comes with this type of life changing event. I have been told by friends who have gone through it themselves that we may fight a lot for the first week or so. So, pray for us during this our time of need. We have a whole list of things to accomplish with the house this weekend, so that should help. There is also a lot going on in the area this time of year. We’ll keep you updated on the status.