Screen-free Week - happening NOW!

When we moved into our home almost 20 years ago - we did so on a tight budget.  We had been renting previously and enjoyed cable tv.  We didn't watch tv a lot - but probably more than we needed to.  It was easy to let our daughters sit down to watch their favorite shows, knowing they were occupied and allowing me uninterrupted time to get things done around the house.

So when we made the move - cable tv was one thing we felt we could do without to save some pennies.  I will admit - the first couple of weeks were a little tough - but I am so glad we made that choice and stuck with it.  Now don't get me wrong.  We still had tv and we still watched it.  But we went from having many channels to watch to having two or three.  Our choices were limited, so it became very easy to limit our time sitting in front of it.  Even then, we set limits on how much tv our girls could watch.  I remember them figuring out which shows were the most important to them - which ones did they REALLY want to watch, and which ones suddenly weren't as important when they had to pick and choose.

It wasn't long before amazing things began to happen in our family.  We spent more time doing things together.  We played games inside and outside!  We went for walks, rode bikes, roller skated, played badminton, went to the park, went swimming.  We found ourselves sitting around the table after meals just talking.  So many things became a part of our lives that we hadn't 'had time for' previously.  Even though our girls had both been good readers prior to this - they now had more time to read.  It was wonderful to walk by the living room and see them curled up somewhere with a book in their hands.

And now - all these years later - it does my heart good when we go to our daughters' homes and see the stacks of games they have collected.   And when we asked once what family traditions meant the most to them - one of the things on the top of their lists was playing games together as a family.

So I encourage you to take the pledge!  Turn the tv off for a week.  Do something different as a family during those times when you would normally be parked in front of the tv.  And on top of that - you  won't have to listen to all of those annoying commercials!   You could take it a step farther and turn off your electronics also.  No computer games, youtube, facebook, gaming systems.  What would you accomplish if you weren't spending so much of your time 'online' or watching tv?  

See what it does for your family.  I believe it changed ours for the better!  


Take the Screen-Free Week Pledge! | Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood