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Please be HONEST and take my poll re: TV


What kind of TV or shows or movies do you watch?  

  1. 1. What kind of TV or shows or movies do you watch?

    • We have satellite, cable, or pay for TV
      435
    • We have rabbit ears only but we do have TV
      112
    • We have no TV but we watch on the computer
      77
    • We have no TV and we never watch anything on the computer
      4
    • We only watch occasional DVDs/movies
      131
    • other- because I am sure I have forgotten a category
      63


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We do not pay for TV. We have an antennae, but it it is not hooked up. I have little to no idea what is on any network TV show these days, and my only news source is the internet.

 

I voted "other" since we watch frequent dvd's. We buy a lot of movies and have two dvds out at a time through Netflix. Our connection isn't fast enough to stream it to the TV, but I or my kids will watch occasional (grainy :glare:) streaming movies on my laptop.

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I had to pick other... We have a digital tv that scans for tv stations (so, I could have picked "rabbit ears" category?) and we do watch a few shows. I also watch shows on the computer if I like them and miss them when they are on (family comes first or working...). So, I also watch both tv and computer tv. Now... how much I watch? Probably 4 hours a week.

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No tv in house, and no tv on computers,

we have discovery education for school, but that is it?

but I am not one to pipe up in a conversation and say, we don't watch tv...lo

but uhm we don't! ha ha

 

my kids used to see all the new releases when they were in public school.

 

for the record, I didn't have a tv when I was a kid, and there were no computers!

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I voted that we only watch occasional movies/dvds from netflix b/c that's truly all we do. Maybe 4-5 dvds a month. We have not had any tv service coming into the house for 13 months now. No rabbit ears, no cable, no fios, no satellite dish. And we do not watch shows on the computer.

Edited by MariannNOVA
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I haven't read any other responses, but I didn't see our category so put "other". We have a tv, but no cable, and no rabbit ears. Therefore, no channels at all. We also don't watch on the computer (except there is one show that my teenage son watches on the computer).

 

For the rest of us, we watch DVD's (from the library only, or ones we own- we don't spend money on them), but I couldn't really say "occasionally" with a clear conscience. Each week when we go to the library, each child picks one movie (we have 5 children), and I pick ones I want them to see (educational). My 13 year old daughter likes some tv series like Little House on the Prairie, so she will get a season at a time. We usually watch DVD's in the evening while I fold laundry, or before bed, or sometimes in the afternoon someone will put on their movie they chose from the library.

 

My sister uses "screen time" as a term for tv, movies, computer, electronic games, etc. and she only allows 1 hour per day of "screen time" for her girls. (They choose whether to watch tv, have a computer turn, or play on their games). They are all still young; the oldest is almost 8. But I love that idea because when we're not doing schoolwork, my kids go from the movie, to the computer, to their gameboy. I really want them to not be spending so much time WATCHING stuff, but haven't made the hard & fast rule yet.

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I voted we don't have a TV and never watch anything on the computer.

 

That said, my girls often find a song they want to learn on the guitar or piano and want to see how it's performed correctly, and they google a youtube video of it being played. Also if I want to learn something (like how to dress a chicken!) I look it up on youtube. Not sure if you would class that as 'watching our computer', though.

 

Also, my daughter was given some horse training dvd's and used those while she was training her horse, but that's it - we don't watch dvd's for entertainment.

 

When we go away on holidays the place we stay has a TV/DVD, so we all chill out & watch for a few hours a day. Hence my family has some idea of what's around - not totally clueless!

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I voted other because it didn't seem I fit into any category.

 

We have a TV, no cable or satellite. We don't have rabbit ears either. We do watch an occasional movie.

 

We have several computers and watch occasional videos and or movies as well.

 

The kids spend most of the "TV" time playing the Nintendo... gamecube. We don't have a Wii. I am still hoping they come down in price.

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We have no TV reception, so we do not actually watch any TV shows on the TV, but my kids do watch a fair amount of DVDs. DH and I have a couple of TV shows that we watch online so we're talking maybe 3 or 4 hours a week of TV watching. No Netflix though. We borrow movies from the library.

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I chose other. I guess you can decide how annoyed you want to be with me.;)

 

We have a television. My husband won a G.I.G.A.N.T.I.C flat-screen television at his company Christmas party one year. I hated it b/c it required us to rearrange the den in a way I just did not like at all. So, he sold it to a friend and bought a much, much, smaller version.

 

So we have that. We have rabbit ears that allow us to get some channels but we never know any decent shows until they're already over and everyone is talking about them afterward. The last thing we watched on television was the Super Bowl. The last thing before that was the new Sherlock Holmes on PBS -- which actually I found out about before it aired thanks to someone on this board!

 

We don't watch network or cable television otherwise b/c there is nothing we'd watch and if there were, we wouldn't watch it b/c of the commercials.

 

We have netflix and love it! We have movie night every weekend so I couldn't choose the "occasionally" option b/c that's way more than occasionally. However, we don't' always watch movies on movie night. As a matter of fact, we're watching our way through the old Daniel Boone series. So, you can count that how ever you like.

 

Do we stream? Well, if I say yes it seems like we do it with some regularity. If I say no, it seems as if we never do. Neither of those would be accurate. I once had to have a 3 hour thing at the dr.'s office 3 weeks in a row. On one of those visits I took a movie that I'd downloaded onto my computer. Also, one year my daughter was in a play and I did the same thing a few times over the course of the play (rehearsals).

 

The last time I did that? hmmm, Well, I guess it would be that dr. thing and that was two years or more ago.

 

Do we stream at home? It's the same as above with movie night. If it's movie night and we didn't send in our DVD in time, we watch a streamed movie. Also, if it's movie night and my husband and daughter are at a game (they go to the bball game of a local university and the football games of my husband's alma mater) AND I don't have something else to do and don't want to go to the game, I watch a movie. I almost always watch a streamed movie b/c our DVDs are for family movies usually so it wouldn't really be fair to watch it by myself.

 

Movie nights are one wkend night at least and sometimes two.

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We have a TV with rabbit ears. We have the TV for emergencies mostly, though we watched Watson on Jeopardy. :D Dh and I do go through periods where we watch some sitcoms once a week or so, though it is rare that we are home without company and have time in the evenings, so it's been a while.

 

One of our biggest reasons for avoiding it, aside from commercialization, is that electricity is expensive here. The TV takes a LOT of electricity. I would rather spend the money on books. :001_smile:

 

We can't watch anything online because we are too far out for good internet service.

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Okay... I will admit it... we watch tv. We have a 60 inch in the basement and a 42 inch in our upstairs living room. We have HD cable, netflix and a dvr. When the kids get up, they watch cartoons. It goes off when school starts and stays off all day. Currently, at night, we have been watching Battlestar Gallactica on Netflix. When we aren't watching that, the kids and I watch American Idol on the DVR. My dh and I watch a few other shows on the DVR. When they all go to bed, a couple nights a week, I watch a few of MY shows. My oldest child was in love with Power Rangers and Pokemon for years when he was a kid. He grew up to be a fine young man that went a year without tv in Iraq. I don't stress over my kids watching it. They don't sit glued to it. They either watch Disney, TLC or Discovery. I won't be giving up any of these things any time soon. They make us happy and the one thing I know for sure is that if it gives us a moment of happiness and it isn't killing anyone - then I probably don't need to worry about it.

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We lost TV reception for a month last year -- and only noticed when we wanted to turn the TV on to see where the nearest tornado was.

 

We're supposedly hooked up for watching broadcast TV, but don't often bother with it. But we do watch DVDs, when we have time. On our new-to-us DVD/TV that we picked out of the trash when everyone else went to digital.

 

OTOH, friends of ours are always going on and on about how they don't have a TV -- and then posting on facebook about all the movies/TV shows they've been watching. They spend entire weekends watching all the years of one show. If that's not watching TV in its worst form ever, I don't know what is.

 

I'm with you about these people. This does seem to be a pretty common gripe.

 

Oh, and I watch TV at the gym, because it's on. And it's enough to convince me there's no reason to turn it on at home.

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We only watch the occasional show.

 

When my kids are sick, a Mr. Roger's marathon is good medicine. When mommy is sick, Kratz Creatures save the day.

 

Other than that, it is REALLY rare that we are watching on a TV (which we don't currently own) or off of the computer.

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We watch TV. We have satellite. The girls are very carefully monitored with what they watch and how much they watch. I, well, I won't admit to what I watch. :tongue_smilie: DH mostly watches TV after the girls are in bed. Both of us are very careful about anything we watch around the girls. That's why I love the pause button! DVRs are one of the best inventions ever.

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We have regular broadcast (digital) TV. However, we watch more Netflix than broadcast shows. Dh and I like to watch "The Office" on the computer, when ds is asleep. And we check out or rent DVDs. I also watch documentaries online sometimes. Dh watches a lot of videos on Youtube of his favorite progressive rock bands.

 

We've never had cable or satellite, although I always say that if they ever change their pricing policy so you can just pay for the channels you really want, I'd be there! (Discovery, A&E, History, etc.)

 

Wendi

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I voted that we have cable, but we only have basic cable; really more for the on demand movies and the 4 big channels than anything else. It's very limited. I can honestly say the kids don't watch it at all, and dh and I watch a handful of shows only. Tues, Wed, Thur & Sun I have shows that I watch, about 1 each night. DH will occasionally go thru the channels over and over and over just to see if anything's on, but never really stops to watch anything :) When we do watch with the kids, it's Netflix movies or an on demand; that's about it. We've talked about getting rid of it altogether, but we really pay very little per month, plus we like having access to local and national news, which I know you could get on the computer, but it's not really the same for me.

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Because dh would cease to live without knowing he could have tv.

 

That being said, I will purposefully turn it on once a week to watch the Duggars (idk why but I LOVE to watch their show). He generally watches what he wants to watch outside in his shop while working on stuff out there.

 

If it does get turned on in the house, I will occasionally watch a Criminal Minds rerun, NCIS or a Big Bang Theory, but otherwise I don't see much. Mostly the vile, constant sex crap on TV just makes me ill.

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I am not even sure what a Roku box is. We really don't watch T.V. We do have a few movies that the children watch when, let's be honest here, I need a break. This translates to weeks with no movie and weeks with a movie every few days. Most of our movies are educational like Moody Science Videos or what I would consider classics like the Sound of Music or Annie. It's not that I am opposed to movies, we just truly don't have time. I am also fine without all of the tacky commercials. If we are somewhere where T.V. is on I generally don't care, as long as the content is child friendly.

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Well, I'm a bit confused by the poll. The categories ask what type of TV we have, but only a couple of them ask about how much we watch. I don't think what we have has that much to do with what we watch. Someone might not have cable, etc. but watch tons of TV on computer or movies. Someone else might have cable, but not watch much TV at all.

 

We don't have cable, but have digital TV (or something???) but at least my kids watch hardly any TV at all. I watch a bit, not much!

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We have rabbit ears and only watch t.v. occasionally. Right now, the t.v. is used mostly for dh to watch sports when he can get them (I think we get about five channels).

 

However, in the last three months or so, dh and I have started watching "t.v." via the computer (hulu and netflix instant). The dc (ages 15 - 24) do this as well.

 

When dc were younger, we watched mostly family-friendly movies on t.v. - not that often. But since they all have their own computers, times have changed.

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We have cable TV, which is what I chose in the poll, but we don't watch a lot of TV. So I am kind of confused about what the poll really means. :confused:

 

We have to have cable to get a few channels that are oh-so-important to DH. I like to watch the occasional movie, and I completely love Project Runway. Other than that, I prefer to read in the evenings. The kids don't watch a lot either, but probably would if given the choice. Forbidden fruit, and all. ;)

 

I think I would be fine without a TV at all, would prefer it actually, but DH would be crushed. It was hard enough on him when we got rid of the one in our bedroom, he just liked to have it on to fall asleep to. :confused:

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I *wish* we didn't have a TV again.

 

For nearly five wonderful years, we lived without one. Then I met SO, who admits to loving TV. Now I've been sucked in and allow my daughters to watch 1 - 2 shows per week, and even I have fallen in love with Doctor Who and Dexter. SO also watches in bed, so I peripherally watch as I lesson plan and get ready for the following day.

 

I would love to go TV free again BECAUSE it is so, so, so easy for me to throw away a lot of time watching it--no self-control!

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I picked rabbit ears only, but we rarely watch actual TV with the commercials. We often watch DVDs from the library or if it is a current show we watch it online. Dh and I only watch one current show right now and the kids don't watch any so we don't watch much online.

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Actually then it wouldn't really describe you. You still do watch DVDs.

 

I mean people who literally watch NOTHING.....no TV, no DVDs, ....and your husband does watch TV, so you aren't a no TV ever household....that really was my point....

 

Dawn

 

This is me. I literally don't watch any television shows. I haven't watched a tv show with regularity since Seinfeld was on the air. :blushing: hehe We don't have cable and just have the old rabbit ears so maybe that has something to do with it. I just don't find anything that I really want to sit and watch. I will watch movies though on DVD on my tv though. :) My husband on the other hand loves tv. He watches lots of shows on there, but I just don't find anything interesting. I spend my free time here instead as you can tell by my post count. ;) :D :blushing:
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We pay for cable. We don't really watch much TV though. It's usually only on and used for dh to watch sports. If he would give the okay to get rid of cable, we would. But he would probably never do that.

 

We do the occasional Netflix and the occasional Schlessinger video from the library.

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We have Netflix but no ability to watch them on our old computer. We just get a DVD in the mail and watch it. My kids probably watch 2 movies a week. My husband watches more like 3-4 a week after the kids are in bed. Funny though because he is really just hearing a movie and reading his book. I think he is just used to having noise (first grade teacher).

 

So we don't watch regular tv or cable.

We don't watch any shows on the computer (it is too old and slow).

We don't watch shows on any other device.

We don't play video games or computer games.

We DO watch DVDs. :D

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I am a tv-holic. Guilty as charged. ;)

 

Sidenote: Many years ago, we donated our old TV and VCR to our church for Sunday School use. Interestingly, I noted our Associate Pastor's family had our old TV/VCR in their home every time I'd visit. They always claimed to despise TV and would call it an "idol". But ironically there was the idolatrous TV... in their home!! Heheeee. One time, I couldn't resist and brought it up to them when visiting. Oh, the look on their face trying to squirm outta that one. (Yes, I called them hypocrites.) LOL :lol: Priceless.

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Our TV isn't connected to anything (no reception), but we use it to watch DVDs and Netflix Instant. We also watch a few things online.

 

Anytime I go somewhere and they're watching regular TV, the commercials seem so excessive. Weird how you get used to things.

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Yeah, I'm one of those people who annoys you. I would probably say that we don't watch TV. In reality, that's the short way of saying that the kids don't get to watch TV (though perhaps a movie or video every month or two--maybe 6-8 times per year). Us parents watch an occasional TV series on DVD or streamed off of Netflix onto our computer, and we watch 1-2 movies per week.

 

I tend to just say that we don't really watch TV because I don't think everyone needs our long explanation, and because I do see a big difference between our usage and the typical American usage where certain shows are watched every week, the kids often watch TV after school or in the evening, and there is a lot of exposure to commercials. We make a very conscious choice to not allow TV for kids in our house.

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Yes, you read that right. There are 4 people in my family, and at any given time, we have 5 working televisions (ranging from 13" to 55") and 6 computers (2 desktops & 4 laptops) in this house. I am not ashamed of this--I very proudly DVR history and science programs for my kids to watch as part of their education, as well as other programs just for fun--and I can't figure out why some people seem to think that they are more...what?...pure? if they don't watch television. :confused: We like to watch certain television shows and movies, and we enjoy family movie night occasionally. However, we are not addicted to television, nor are we are the type of people who will watch anything that is on. Many nights, we turn off the television and read together (see my post from earlier today in which I asked for book recommendations) or play games or talk or do Bible study.

Edited by ereks mom
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Yes, you read that right. There are 4 people in my family, and at any given time, we have 5 working televisions (ranging from 13" to 55") and 6 computers (2 desktops & 4 laptops) in this house. I am not ashamed of this--I very proudly DVR history and science programs for my kids to watch as part of their education, as well as other programs just for fun--and I can't figure out why some people seem to think that they are more...what?...pure? if they don't watch television. :confused: We like to watch certain television shows and movies, and we enjoy family movie night occasionally. However, we are not addicted to television, nor are we are the type of people who will watch anything that is on. Many nights, we turn off the television and read together (see my post from earlier today in which I asked for book recommendations) or play games or talk or do Bible study.

 

Yep, same here. And guess what, despite all of the media we watch my children still love Jesus, have a meek and quiet spirit and get a long with each other.:D

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It depends on the season. Dh watches college football every Saturday during it's season. Otherwise I watch about 1 show per year, if that much. We only have rabbit ears (actually, it's a length of aluminum foil wound around a sewing pin, but it still works:D), so that may turn into watching on the computer as broadcast is showing fewer games.

 

Now, on the other hand, we watch videos rather frequently (from my viewpoint, at least) - 5 to 7 times a week between what the girls watch and what I watch while doing stuff after they're in bed.

 

I usually say, "We don't really watch TV" because I'm totally unaware of the shows presently going on and (for 3/5 of the year or so) the commercials. But we do spend a solid amount of time in front of the screen compared to the No-TV-until-I-got-to-high-school home in which I grew up.

 

Mama Anna

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Yeah, I'm one of those people who annoys you. I would probably say that we don't watch TV. In reality, that's the short way of saying that the kids don't get to watch TV (though perhaps a movie or video every month or two--maybe 6-8 times per year). Us parents watch an occasional TV series on DVD or streamed off of Netflix onto our computer, and we watch 1-2 movies per week.

 

This post and others, explain what I have found odd too. I had a friend that was always quick to pipe in how her kids didn't watch TV, they didn't even own a TV . . . it seemed like she was trying to make others feel guilty, bad or inferior. I had her kids over one day and she told me that they could watch a movie. I got out our movies and they refused to watch them because they knew them all by heart! They started quoting lines from them! I always thought she was a liar, but now I understand what she was trying to say. I am actually the opposite of her, I would rather my kids watch Magic School Bus and other educational shows than pointless movies over and over.

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No, I am not annoyed that people don't watch regular TV or even if the semantics are different (which I am grasping a little better after reading responses), what annoys me is when people have an air of self-righteous arrogance and turn up their noses at those of us who do watch TV announcing proudly that they "Don't watch TV" when they really do watch things.

 

Now, if it is said more matter of factly, I really don't care what you choose to do about TV as long as you aren't rude to me about our choices and as long as, after turning up your nose at me, I don't find out that you actually do watch more than I do, you just find a different venue to enact it.

 

Does that make sense?

 

This is all triggered by a few people lately who have made VERY rude comments to me (and those around me) about my TV watching or allowing the kids to watch TV and telling me how much better THEY are because they don't do such things.....

 

One mom even told me, "Oh, we don't watch TV. We love our children." It was everything in me not to say, "Oh, well, we hate our kids, so we watch TV."

 

Of course, I find out later that they do indeed watch TV, they just don't have cable.....

 

Dawn

 

Yeah, I'm one of those people who annoys you. I would probably say that we don't watch TV. In reality, that's the short way of saying that the kids don't get to watch TV (though perhaps a movie or video every month or two--maybe 6-8 times per year). Us parents watch an occasional TV series on DVD or streamed off of Netflix onto our computer, and we watch 1-2 movies per week.

 

I tend to just say that we don't really watch TV because I don't think everyone needs our long explanation, and because I do see a big difference between our usage and the typical American usage where certain shows are watched every week, the kids often watch TV after school or in the evening, and there is a lot of exposure to commercials. We make a very conscious choice to not allow TV for kids in our house.

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I should have put Netflix/Roku/etc....I guess I was considering that DVD or computer watching as the streaming is through the TV....but vote however you feel comfortable.

 

Dawn

 

Not sure what to vote. We watch way more TV than what is good for us (at least the kids do), but we only pay for Netflix, which is less than $10 a month for our option.
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How is Amazon prime better than Netflix streaming, or are they about the same? As in, does one of them have more shows/offerings?

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

 

We have no "TV", but we stream our shows over to the PS3. We have Netflix, and soon probably the Amazon Prime thing. We also rent Redbox, a lot :) LOL
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We watch TV! We don't have any pay TV, but we do watch TV, and we have an extensive DVD collection. We don't have rabbit ears, though, so I picked "other".

 

I consider watching DVDs, free-to-air, cable, streaming, TV-shows-on-iPod, on the computer etc, all to be watching TV. We do it in ways that are convenient to us at the time, but it's all TV to me. If someone raises the subject of a TV show (which doesn't happen often, come to think of it), I'll just say I haven't seen it. Or I have seen it, whichever. Occasionally we'll stumble across a gorgeous nature series, and recommend it.

 

We actually don't watch a great deal, some days it will just be the news or weather, but it would go on every day. I wouldn't like to do without it, but I could relocate my viewing to the computer, I guess, it just wouldn't be as convenient or comfortable.

 

Min

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No, I am not annoyed that people don't watch regular TV or even if the semantics are different (which I am grasping a little better after reading responses), what annoys me is when people have an air of self-righteous arrogance and turn up their noses at those of us who do watch TV announcing proudly that they "Don't watch TV" when they really do watch things.

 

Now, if it is said more matter of factly, I really don't care what you choose to do about TV as long as you aren't rude to me about our choices and as long as, after turning up your nose at me, I don't find out that you actually do watch more than I do, you just find a different venue to enact it.

 

Does that make sense?

 

Yes - it makes sense. About 10 years ago, we were at my sister's house and another couple was there (they were very very good friends with my sister and her dh at the time -- the friends: she is a neonatologist and he is a psychiatrist. Their 7 year old was at the house as well and I had been told for months how 'A' was not allowed to watch television, her parents didn't 'have' television, blah, blah, blah. Well, the day that we were all visiting (I think it was Thanksgiving probably) 'A' sat in front of the television watching videos the entire visit -- probably 4 or 5 hours. So I asked my dh: 'How is THAT NOT watching tv?':glare: He didn't know either. :001_huh: So I agree that it makes sense. For some folks, it's like some great character flaw that other families watch tv; for others, it's no biggie.

 

Personally, I don't care what others do - we do not have cable/fios/satellite service. The kids watch maybe 4 dvds a month from netflix or the library -- b/c that works best for us. It's a personal, individual choice.

 

This is all triggered by a few people lately who have made VERY rude comments to me (and those around me) about my TV watching or allowing the kids to watch TV and telling me how much better THEY are because they don't do such things.....

 

One mom even told me, "Oh, we don't watch TV. We love our children." It was everything in me not to say, "Oh, well, we hate our kids, so we watch TV." I would have said THAT to her. I hate smugness.

 

Of course, I find out later that they do indeed watch TV, they just don't have cable.....

 

Dawn

 

 

:D

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