i love tv. i LOVE tv! I.LOVE.TV!!!!!
there. i've said it...admitted what causes me no small amount of shame...hello, my name is amy and i'm addicted to tv. more specifically, i am addicted to the tv being on...i don't necessarily sit around all day watching tv...but the tv is on ALL. DAY. it is company...a constant noise that every once in a while will catch my attention, i'll watch for a few minutes, and then it's back to the task at hand. yes, i do DO things...my house is not a mess (in fact, quite the opposite...come on over and use my bathroom...i won't be embarrassed)...the dishes are done, the beds are made, the kids are fed, bathed, and most days clothed. tv doesn't keep me from being productive...it keeps me company.
i love to hear paula deen prattling on about butter in her southern drawl...i love to hear the neely's banter back and forth in their most flirtatious way as they make the most delicious looking ribs...i love to see which house the house hunters choose, how the wedding/birthday cake looks when it's finished, and what happens to the poor stupid teenage girl when her boyfriend realizes that HE can leave and she's left to raise her baby on her own.
last week i was feeling especially guilty about the tv being on so much...i decided one morning to NOT turn the tv on...i got jackson his milk and began to feed zoey...when jackson starts making the "please" sign and pointing to the tv. uh-oh. when i tell him "no, we're not going to watch tv this morning", there was an actual fit pitched...and that was it for me. no doubt about it, my addiction was now affecting my very impressionable one year old...crap.
i know exactly what must be done...DO NOT want to do it...but i must...break up...with the tv. it won't be a complete departure...we'll still be friends...it just has to be the end (or the limitation) of a very unhealthy addiction/obsession.
SO...
in an effort to watch LESS tv/keep the tv off, i've been trying to think of things to do and ways to replace the temptation that tv is to me...and now is to jackson...(oh, the sins of the mother!)...
cleaning...already do that
reading...could be tough to do with two little ones, but i LOVE to read. another embarrassing confession--i read with the tv on...i know--WHY?!!
crafting/decorating...not practical or necessary in my current situation
cooking...um, no thank you--i like to watch other people doing it--for me, it should remain a spectator activity
exercising...YES, definitely will be doing that when the weather warms up
blogging...yeah, i could probably keep things more current without having to post THREE months of pictures in one day
listening to music...YES!!!
jackson loves music...dances to EVERY commercial and theme song he hears...
***SO embarrassing***
(this is jackson listening to the ipad commercial...about twenty times...because we have a dvr and can rewind tv...his FAVORITE commercial--a one year old should not have a favorite commercial...if you watch long enough, you will see him begin to pitch a fit because we do not want to rewind it ONE MORE TIME)
why not listen to REAL music? why not listen to music that edifies? learn to count, learn the ABCs, learn "school-ish" stuff? OR what about all those sunday school songs...yeah, that would be good...cause they're about Jesus...and what's more important than learning about Jesus?!!
the songs that came to mind are the "hide em' in your heart" songs that steve green put out many, many years ago...the bible verse songs...would be good for jackson...and for his mommy who has such a difficult time prioritizing scripture memorization. found them this morning...on itunes...and...no offense, steve green, but if i have to listen to those songs all day, every day i'll go crazy. so itunes, being ever-so-helpful, suggested some other albums i might like and i found...
these are songs that i can actually listen to without wanting to pull my eardrums out. maybe you've already heard of them...they're super great...several different volumes...the website is linked below...
so, replacing some tv time with scripture memorization and worship is a good place to start...but by no means the end to my quest to occupy my time with something other than the boob tube...
these are songs that i can actually listen to without wanting to pull my eardrums out. maybe you've already heard of them...they're super great...several different volumes...the website is linked below...
7 comments:
you crack me up!! btw, I pretty much hate TV, unless there is football on. can we still be friends??
do you seriously not cook? like, at all? wish I didn't have to cook so much.
fyi, the Hide Em in Your Heart, Praise and Worship CD is waaaay better than the original ones, and my kids and I really like it. also, we have the Sing n Learn CDs, that sing about Presidents, biology, grammar, geography, etc. they can be a tad annoying, but my kids learned a ton from them. we also have a few of the Indelible Grace CDs, which we all enjoy listening to. but also, we still play our favorites for our kids, b/c I want them to love great music and not cotton-candy top-40. so they love to sing OTR, VoL, Jonatha, Simon & Garfunkel, Mraz, etc. its doesn't ALWAYS have to be educational or spiritual...sometimes everyone just wants to sing and dance.
and yay for baby signs!
hating tv is a sign of intelligence. :-)
i cook because i have to...NEVER because i want to. i have the palette (don't think i spelled that right) of a five year old...so whatever i do cook is pretty much a dump and go recipe...if a recipe has more than 7-8 ingredients, i won't even consider making it. i am way better about processed foods...we eat mostly fresh and from scratch...which is way more time-consuming...which doesn't help my hate for cooking...darn it for wanting/insisting on being healthy.
will look for those others. where'd you find the sing and learn cds??? i always borrowed them from other teachers, so i don't have copies of my own...
and of course, we will always have dance parties just for fun...with fist pumping and booty shaking and all that other dancing goodness...
http://www.singnlearn.org/khxc/ccp0-prodshow/330.html
we have Vol. 1&2, though my kids like #1 the best.
My brain tends to shut off when the TV is on, so having the TV on and taking care of kids at the same time would not work for me... you also might try books on CD/iTunes (or from the library). You can get stuff you would like and children's stories that might be too long to read to the kids, but at least it would be on in the background. Just a thought. We also like For the Kids CD series, fun kid music sung by cool people (like OTR on volume 3 - Karen's voice singing, "Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty..." Good times. You can also get podcasts of things from NPR (love Prairie Home, Wait Wait, Fresh Air, and This American Life) or podcasts of great preaching - Stott, Keller, Wright, whoever you want to listen to could probably be found online or on iTunes.
You are such an entertaining writer. I think you should write a book. I love the tv also but only when it's entertaining others so I can get things done. It's rare my shows are on the boob tube. Abe watches WAY TO MUCH. He's watched more TV than all of the twins pre-K years combined I just know it. I'm going to look into the cd you found. It looks very cool!
hadn't though of listening to a book on cd...but MY brain shuts off...or rather, becomes so engrossed in real reading that i'm not sure that would work for me. :-) i've been reading a lot the last few days and i'm finding i'm much more attentive when the tv is on...want to be left alone when reading...i'm a much better parent when the tv is on...hahaha!
music has been on non-stop and that has been good. listening to things i haven't listened to in a long time...from our moody days...good times!
and i agree, jackie...tv is the BEST when it's keeping jackson occupied and out of the kitchen cupboards, trash can, closets...
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