Life without Television When my family’s only television set went to the repair shop the other day, my parents, my sister, and I thought we would have a terrible week. How could we get through the long evenings in such a quiet house? What would it be like without all the shows to keep us company? We soon realized, though, that living without television for a while was a stroke of good fortune. It became easy for each of us to enjoy some activities alone, to complete some postponed chores, and to spend rewarding time with each other and friends. First of all, with no television to compete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interests. We all read more that week than we had read during the six months before. We read as a family, but we also read stories on our own. Reading stories as a family brought us closer together it seemed. We told stories of our daily encounters. We even learned of stories from our family history. We each also enjoyed some hobbies we had ignored for ages. Our family enjoyed nice outdoor activities- such as basketball, baseball, and golf. We all learned that we were in fact, a very competitive family. We even learned out to sew and knit in our spare time. We enjoyed old activities as well as learning how to do new ones. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. Our grades improved tremendously. We learned that we could help each other out and our homework became easier. We also learned that it is easier to do our homework first before we enjoy our free time. Our parents were both quite pleased with the effort my sister and I were putting forth. Second, we did chores that had been hanging over our heads for too long. There were many jobs around the house that had needed attention for some time. We cleaned out the garage, which needed to be cleaned ages ago. We even painted all of our bedrooms our favorite colors. We caught up on the lawn outside and made a flower bed as a family. We each had the chance to pick a flower and plant it. Cleaning around the house may have not been the most fun we have had as a family, but it was definitely needed.
We also had a chance to do some long-postponed shopping. We never really went shopping as a family so this experience was definitely needed. We each shopped for ourselves but we also shopped for one family member. The experience was quite enjoyable. We learned a lot about each other’s taste in clothing. Our family learned a lot about each other in a simple shopping trip. And each of us also caught up with email and did paperwork that was long overdue. We had somehow managed to catch up with all of our past-due paperwork. Catching up with all of our past-due work was a challenge. We learned that we should not put it off anymore because it is difficult to catch up with. Our family did help each other tremendously though, and we are all caught up. Finally, and probably most importantly, we spent time with each other. Instead of just being in the same room together while we stared at a screen, we actually talked for many pleasant hours. We learned new things about each other. We actually talked about how each of our days had gone. We shared funny stories. We even shared our personal struggles and talked to each other about how to overcome them. We helped each other out with any problems we were facing.
Moreover, for the first time in years, my family played some games together. We enjoyed playing board games together. We played some that our parents had played when they were younger. We played card games and video games. We showed our parents the kind of games our generation plays. We all tested our knowledge with questionnaire games. We all learned so many new things just by playing simple games.
And because we didn’t have to worry about missing this or that show, we had some family friends over on a couple of evenings and spent an enjoyable time with them. Our families got together and we shared funny stories. Our families even competed in board game against each other. Our families cooked a big meal and we took turns on serving desert. We all had such great times bonding with each other and built everlasting friendships. Once our television returned, we were not prepared to put it in the attic. But we had a sense of how it could take over our lives if we were not careful. We are now more selective. We turn on the set for our favorite shows, certain sports events, and the news, but we don’t leave it running all evening. As a result, we find we can enjoy television and still have time left over for other activities and interests.