Pulling the Plug - First Two Days

(Super Bowl Sunday) Despite the televisions still being set up, and hooked up to cable, there has not been any cheating. They have remains off. In just four and half hours one will be turned on so we can watch the Super Bowl then they are all leaving the house.

Friday night was a test however. Our daughter went to her aunts for the night (my sister-in-law doesn't have a television) and my wife and son were home. We spent our time in a room with a television off. We all tried reading books and magazines pausing often to look at the dark screen wistfully. My son did drap himself across the foot of our bed made great sighs in his boredom. Then he went to bed at 9pm – on a Friday night.

Since then nothing more. No crying or bargaining. My son did want to know if it meant there would be no movies. We declined decided that for now. Since we still are keeping the laptops and desktop DVDs can be played on them. I do want to get rid of the Netflix streaming package since it opens us up to hundreds of television shows.

Last night at dinner my son, mainly, and my wife and daughter ran through their favorite lines from the IT Crowd. I'm not sure if it some sort of withdraw symptom but it is obvious one of our main family conversation currencies are the television show we watch.  I wonder what we'll talk about in a month at dinner. Books? Ideas?

Also on Friday my wife and I found several people's blogs and articles online about giving up television. (One of the best is found here.) Most extolled the benefits of giving up television. Among them: Giving yourself more time, spending more time with your family and friends, saving money on new televisions and cables, streaming and DVR subscriptions and power bills. They also point out that since $70 billion a year is spent on television advertising each year by manufactures and service providers, and since it's assumed they'r getting their money's worth, non-television watchers save money by not being tempted to buy things they don't really need. Then there are all the calories you don't mindless consume while sitting in from of the boob tube. One postulated not watching television makes you happier since you are not discouraged by unrealistic lives on television shows.

Whatever the benefits, the televisions, Xboxes and cable cards are leaving today after the 49ers win the Super Bowl.

Wish us luck.