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 quite 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 complete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interests. We all read more that week then we had read during the six months before. We went to the library to pick up some books. All of us got two books each, except my dad, he only pick one but bigger than the ones we chose. By the middle of the week we all have finished all two books and my father was still reading his. We each also enjoyed hobbies we had ignored for ages.
For example getting together organizing old and new photos in a scrapbook, and dividing the gardening duties of planting, watering and weeding among family members. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. We realized that we could do homework a lot faster than when we had the television. It was a miracle; we did a schedule for the homework because we notice that for the first time in a long time we both had all our homework done and ready for the next day. 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.
My father somehow managed to repair some doorknobs that were broken for the long time. My sister and I painted the wall in our rooms, and mom clean out the kitchen cabinets. We also had a chance to do some long-postponed shopping. We went to the store to buy some groceries and stuff that was need at the house.
After we pass by Walgreens and bought some hair dye for me and my mom. After all shopping was done each of us also caught up with e-mail and did paperwork that was long overdue.Television was really taking our time and we didn’t spend time as a family anymore. Finally, and probably most important, 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. I realized that I missed these moments of all of us doing things together as a family.
Moreover, for the first time in years my family played some games together. We really had fun and pass the time with some board games, like Monopoly, Guess Who? , and Life.And we didn’t have to worry about missing this or that show, we had some family friends over on a couple of evening and spent an enjoyable time with them. It has been a long time since we haven’t had this much fun. Once our television returned, we were not prepared to put it in the attic. But we had a sense of how it can take over our lives if we are 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.
