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Actually GOT cable TV!!

July 31st, 2009 at 04:02 pm

I still can't believe it. I have NEVER had cable TV since I moved out of my parents' house at 18. So for 16 years, no cable, and for 5 of those, no TV at all.

I'm still a little dizzy thinking about it. So what happened?

Hubby LOVES soccer. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the games he wants to see. He had to go to a bar or to someone else's house to watch games. He began lobbying for cable TV, with the Fox Soccer Channel, a month or so ago.

I finally caved and we had cable installed yesterday. It will be costing us about $50 a month extra on our phone/internet bill.

Hubby says it's fine, we can afford it.

We can. We have zero debt now, and we don't go out much because we have a bean and a second one on the way. (it's just too hard to get a sitter to go to the movies!)

We'll see how it goes. I am still skeptical. Mostly, because I don't want to be that guy who sits and surfs channels when nothing is on, which usually nothing IS on. I also don't want to raise TV addicted children. I want them to be out actually in the world, not sitting watching a virtual world.

Bean, at 16 months, has still seen NO television. He won't until 3, when we will start DVDs of Sesame Street.

4 Responses to “Actually GOT cable TV!!”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    1249091107

    omg i LOVE that you don't let your children watch tv! my parents did that! my dad and stepmum with my younger sister did that too! people LAUGH at me when i say i would not want my children to watch tv until they are 3 or 4. when i go on to talk about the development of the mind, attention span difficulties etc proved by studies, they chant about the educational benefits of tv shows. what exactly is a one year old learning from tv that they can't learn from the rest of the world?

  2. thriftorama Says:
    1249091422

    Study after study has shown that babies shouldn't watch TV until age 3 or 4. The more TV they watch, the more likely they are to have attention problems when school aged. Also, some scientists think it gives little kids quiet seizures!

  3. monkeymama Says:
    1249181996

    I never had cable until I married my TV-loving spouse. But in the grand scheme of things, I find it to be cheap entertainment - he's converted me.

    As far as TV and kids - I think most people freak out a bit too much. My dh and I fought about that more when the kids were little, but with time I was convinced it helped more than hurt. (I was pretty anti-TV before we had kids). Of course, we were better with the oldest - not like he watched TV for any length of time - we might have waited 1 or 2 years. The younger one watches far more TV as a result of his brother. But what I had to say, all the same, I remember my dh bragging when BM was 2 that all the other kids in playgroups were mesmerized by TV and our kid could care less. He's kind of wishy washy on his TV stance. One minute we are fighting because I am such an anti-TV mom, and the next he is bragging how much he doesn't rely on the TV for the kids, etc. I think moderation is more important than anything (& being mindful how violent more classic kid shows are, etc. They certainly only watch PBS for kids shows). & just a heads up - it's so much harder to keep the same rule for the younger one. You'll figure it out if it is that important to you though.

    Time will tell if we brain damaged our kids (it seem opposite - but they love to watch documentaries, etc. Their attention spans are impeccable for their age - will see if it sticks). But we won't be putting TVs in their bedrooms, EVER, either. Moderation is the important part I think.

  4. thriftorama Says:
    1249354221

    We both agree on no TV til they are old enough for sesame street. So no fighting there. We'll just see how it goes.

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