Here’s how it started: Upon moving into our home a few years ago, we physically never got around to hanging our tv. Weird, I know, but it was 2020, covid, newborn, renovations, etc and we were busy. You know the days that just feel never ending, we had a lot of those. Iif we did have time to Watch Netflix we would just laptop it in bed, but more often than not we would just hop on bed and sleep when the time came.
Fast forward 19 months later when our handyman was working on our fireplace, The TV was still just sitting in a box so I decided why not? While he’s here, let's just hang the tv. So we did. And… still didn’t use it.
As for Connor, he has always been a very physical and active boy. I would do park play dates, scootering, indoor gym classes, museums, art classes, music classes, etc to fill our days. We were always out and about with friends. He was booked and busy, and so was I. We never really had time for the TV and he never asked for it either.
But as we all know, it would be hard to avoid your child ever seeing the TV if you are living in modern society. So, at 20 months we took a trip to Palm Springs, and it was SO incredibly hot that we couldn’t be outside. We were in our Airbnb with nowhere to go (in July, it was so hot) and stuck inside for about 2 weeks. So, we caved and we clicked the tv on one morning to Sesame Street and he was hooked. Like a zombie. He wouldn’t eat like he normally does (and he lives to eat!) he would have more meltdowns. He didn’t have an interest in his other toys or activities. You couldn’t make eye contact with him. All he wanted was tv. As much as I wanted to think this is normal, it just wasn’t.
Trust me, I get it. It’s easy entertainment. It gives parents a break. But for our family, it caused so much stress. It just wasn't worth it.
If you’ve read this far, I think you can guess our solution: we got home from our trip and we quite literally unplugged the TV. To this day he hasn’t watched anything on our TV, and it’s been a huge blessing. He is more active than any lil guy I know. He rides bikes, eats everything and anything, has a jam-packed social life with friends, swims, and most importantly he is happy having fun.
Now, this isn’t to say that he doesn’t have meltdowns or bad days. We all do. But for us, having a hard 0 screen time rule forces you to be focused with 0 distractions with what’s right in front of you. I love it quite frankly because we really are very connected as a family. Have you ever considered going cold turkey with the TV? Let me know!
