I Hate TV

I didn't say I don't watch it or enjoy it, but I hate it.  I do watch...and I get sucked in.  

The problem is that we don't just watch a show and then be done.  We watch one show and then another, and another... In the "olden" days, we watched a show and then had to wait until next week to watch the next episode and heaven forbid if we missed an episode--we'd have to wait until summer to watch it on re-runs.  With the advent of Netflix, Hulu, Kodi, and the like, we can sit and watch for hours (and just because it's on your computer doesn't mean you're not watching TV).  We can watch an entire season of one show.  If we've watched all the current episodes, we can go back and watch from the beginning--to catch all the subtle foreshadowing we missed when we watched it the first time, of course.  So what's the problem with binge watching TV?

Besides the obvious (lack of movement; not actually looking at and interacting with real, live humans; lack of actual brain stimulation; etc...), I believe there are a few bigger problems.  Before I lay into the entertainment status quo, understand that I am guilty of all of these.  I come to you not as a know-it-all-never-done-wrong person, but as someone that doesn't-like-it-but-does-it-anyway-and-please-make-it-go-away.  I truly believe that TV is not only an escape, but an addiction.  Just because we don't put something in our body, like a drug or alcohol addiction, doesn't mean our brain doesn't like it just the same.  

Get your In This Home expression here

Here's the real cost of watching TV, though.  It's the opportunity cost.  If you're not familiar with what opportunity cost is, it works like this: I watch TV instead of going outside and playing catch with my kids.  I gain weight because I do this on a regular basis.  I don't feel as well as I used to, so I am active less and less.  The cost in the long run is not only my health, but better and deeper relationship with my kids, self-confidence, and family memories.  Instead of my kids looking back and saying, 

"My mom didn't play much with me, but we watched a lot of TV shows together," 

I'd much rather them say,

" My mom loved to play with us.  We would go outside and do _____ at least once a week.  It was cool."

I am really struggling with this right now, friends.  It's easy to sit and veg for hours and then all of a sudden the night is gone and I've done nothing to engage with my kids and hubby.  That's a gross feeling because we only get one shot at this life.  I don't want to look back and see all that we didn't do because we were current on our shows. 

I think it's time for a TV fast.  Now to see how hubby feels about this...Who else is in??  Comment below if you will take the next 30 days off of TV, Hulu, Netflix, Kodi, etc.

If this post has resonated with you, please share on your favorite social media outlet and subscribe to each new post by entering your email in subscribe box.  You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@JensWallsTalk).  See you soon and thanks for stopping by.