The other day I made a CRAZY decision: no more TV, movies, computer games, etc. on weekdays.

We are definitely not an anti-TV family. Ben and I love watching TV. It’s one of our favorite past times! And prior to these past two weeks, Sam watched 1-3 shows a day (and Campbell too, but her attention span is shorter). We don’t have an iPad, but Sam likes playing some games on our phones. And Sam has enjoyed a few movies for special occasions (Disney’s Robin Hood is a recent favorite).

The main reason I put the TV on, is because it buys me some nice down time. As I have mentioned in my WWAW posts, I usually cook dinner while the kids are watching a show. And I’ve been known to let the kids watch a show so that I can have a few minutes just to sit down.

So why on earth would I change things? Well, recently I have been noticing that letting Sam watch TV seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Sam seems to be very impacted by technology. When a show is on, you cannot tear him away. He is completely sucked in. But the problem is really when it comes time to turn it off. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell him just one show, we’re turning it off when the credits roll, etc. etc. Every single time he has to turn the TV off, he goes crazy. He begs and begs to watch one more show and then when it becomes clear that I am not going to change my mind, he has a total meltdown. That usually lasts 5-10 minutes, and then he is grumpy for at least another hour, often for the rest of the evening.

So two weeks ago I decided to tell Sam that we weren’t watching TV on weekdays any more (I didn’t want to take it away all together). I was really nervous that he would be resistant to this new plan and also nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get anything done in the afternoons. But it has worked out SO WELL.

Sam accepted the decision with almost no push back. He used to ask to watch a show almost instantly from getting up from his nap/quiet time but he never asks at all anymore (except on the weekend). And he never even complains that he wishes he could watch a show. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I have tried to come up with a few things to keep Sam busy in the afternoons, like books on CD from the library (a big hit with both kids), but it hasn’t been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Turns out when he isn’t melting down about not getting to watch TV, he is quite capable of entertaining himself. He’s been reading books, coloring pictures, playing sneaky spies with Campbell (my personal favorite–they go upstairs sneaking around quietly and whispering), and taking an ungodly amount of photos with my iPhone.

I am not sure how long we will keep this up, but at this point, I really don’t see why we’d change the rules!