Some of the comments on my last post made me think about how much TV we watch in my family.
We watch plenty. Not a ton – and the kids only watch on non-schooldays – and what we watch is deliberate. By deliberate, I mean that we never just turn on the TV to see what’s on. When Tim and I turn it on, it’s always to watch something in particular. And except for times when I’ve found a great new show (like now, when I’m overdosing on How I Met Your Mother), it’s not very often. We don’t actually watch anything on “real” TV now – it’s all either streaming, online, or DVDs. So, I watch maybe three hours of TV a week, plus some weeks we have a family movie night on the weekend.
The kids watch a little more – they are allowed “screen time” on the weekends, and that can be either xBox, computer, iPad or TV (i.e. Netflix on one of those devices). Adam is hooked on Monk and Malcolm in the Middle, Allie loves the various Disney Channel shows, and Jenny loves Diego right now. They watch pretty deliberately too. Maybe 6 hours a week, if you include any family movies. Not too bad, I think. (A wonderful side effect of only watching streaming TV or DVDs: no commercials! Ever! I never have to hear “I want ____” because they’ve seen it on TV.)
Just don’t ask me how much time I spend farting around on the internet …
Book Mama 
See? You have self-control! Before kids, we had cable. There was Jeopardy every night! ER on Thursdays! Wowee! And, lots lots more. During maternity leave, I became an Oprah Addict. Blues Clues! And, then, there’s the simple truth that by the time you’ve clicked through 40 channels, carefully condsidering each one, the half-hour is over and there’s always the possibility of something GOOD on! C-SPAN! C-SPAN2!
Our TV broke shortly after my second maternity leave. We cancelled cable. We figured “someday…” We then got a DVD player and a working TV. Who knows if we would have broken down and re-subscribed to cable by now, but Netflix has relieved 99% of the pressure.
Bravo to _you_ for CHOOSING to not watch. I’m thankful for my crutch!
Oh, trust me, we watched PLENTY of TV before we had kids. But when the Adam was born, we realized that we didn’t want the TV on all the time around him. So, we started watching “grown up” shows after he was in bed. And I guess it went from there. 🙂
Actually, I think part of the reason I didn’t mind changing my TV habits was because of college. Remember all the TV we watched as roommates? And suitemates, etc.? Yeah, pretty much none. That was good training!