A couple of months ago, the husband proposed that we turn off our cable. I didn’t pay very much attention to his ridiculous suggestion… I was too busy watching Coupling.
The subject was brought up every couple of weeks, usually in front of the TV and I always avoided the subject.
I didn’t have cable back in my tiny apartment in college, but I’m an adult now; I’m a mom! Isn’t it a requirement that adult mothers have cable?!
I couldn’t possibly survive without my 24-hour news channels or the BBC and G4 and all of those other wonderful channels. Was he insane?!
On a particularly stressful day, my cable quit working. The screen went black and I think that I heard my TV cry a little.
The cable was officially shut off and I had no clue as to what I should do next.
How sad is that?
I had become so dependent upon a “thing”, that I was actually a bit panicked once it was gone. [I don’t like change].
But, there’s a silver lining to this sad tale.
For one thing, I’ve rediscovered PBS which was a mainstay for me as a child. I’ve also rediscovered music and I didn’t realize how much I had missed it.
Also, we no longer structure our day around what show is coming on next.
I’ve noticed that Tucker and I talk more instead of staring at the TV with lines of drool running down our chins.
The biggest “gift” has been the requirement that I invent ways to entertain Cara. Gone are the days of turning on something animated while I do the dishes. Now, Cara “helps”.
I never thought that I would say this, but I’m glad that the cable’s gone.
I’ll miss you cable, but I’ve got stuff to do.
What would you do if you no longer had cable?
[tags]kids, adults, home, tv, cable, dependence, cutting the cord[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by the author, through a stock photography license, some rights reserved
7 responses so far ↓
Whitney // Sep 13, 2007 at 9:00 am
This is an odd one, as we live in an area where no cable means no TV at all. I am the one that watches the least in the family (being an internet girl…) but I do have a Project Runway and Top Chef thing…not to mention John Stewart.
I think the biggest thing is to make sure it doesn’t control your life. That you select your own channels.
I agree that PBS has some of the greatest programming out there (I would move to England just for the better TV content some days) and I could do very nicely without the Cartoon Network.
What I would love more than anything, and this is because I am a spoiled podcaster, is to be able to choose selective channels, rather than vast packages of dross. I could deal with the five channels we watch alone, and pay for them on a prorated basis. It would make me more selective, I would pay for content I loved, and on the broadcaster’s end, they would know they had my full attention, rather than partial if any attention when choosing programming and ads.
After spending a lot of time producing and listening to podcasts, regular TV and the commercials drives me mad, and I would consider going totally TV free a realistic option for us.
Chantal Hubert // Sep 13, 2007 at 12:26 pm
We are in the same situation as Whitney, there is no TV access here without cable.
That said, I think I could give up television reasonably easy. I would miss some shows, but there are DVDs and movies.
Now, if I had to get rid of the internet … No no. Let’s not even GO THERE.
Stu Mark // Sep 13, 2007 at 6:32 pm
A) We don’t have cable, we have DirecTV.
B) If we didn’t have DirecTV, I would die. Either by an epidural hematoma, or slow suicide, by throwing myself into a tub of lanolin and soften to death.
C) We also have TiVo. If the bed had a potty built into it, I’d never get up, ever.
nan // Sep 13, 2007 at 8:26 pm
We chucked the TV out when our eldest boy was one year old. We have never regretted it, and love the conversation, reading and board games that replaced it. We have DVDs, and a laptop which isn’t always here, but great for rainy days and the flu!
Chris // Sep 14, 2007 at 4:22 pm
For those who say they can’t have TV without cable, check out if your cable service offers REALLY BASIC cable. We get this “free” with our cable Internet service, which allows us to get a clear signal of the broadcast networks and a couple lame cable channels that we never watch. The kids ONLY watch PBS or DVDs and the only commercial TV my husband and I allow ourselves is CSI, a habit I am trying to wean us of (this season, we’re going to watch only CSI Las Vegas). I am also limiting the kids TV-time to an hour/day during the week. Which means I’m limiting my own screen time (i.e., this bloody laptop) during the week as well.
The less we watch, the more time we have for fun–baking, cooking dinner together, homeschooling, reading, playing outside. What I have never figured out is when do people who regularly watch more than a hour or so of TV a day get anything done? Do you substitute sleep for TV time?
Lori // Sep 17, 2007 at 2:40 pm
We just pulled the plug on cable last week - and I mean completely pulled the plug. The television set has been disconnected from the wall and now only plays DVDs. It has been a bit of an adjustment - but not as much of one as I thought. I still have my internet and the kids can watch movies on the weekends.
I will miss the next Project Runway season and the end of Top Chef. Oh well - life moves on!
A. Tucker // Sep 17, 2007 at 2:50 pm
*sigh* Project Runway
Leave a Comment