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By Mom Unplugged, April 20, 2008 8:37 am

It’s not too late to join us for the 2nd Annual TV-Turnoff Week Blog Challenge! Turnoff Week (as it is now called, since we have more to turn off these days than just our TVs) begins tomorrow, April 21st.

Turn it off on your own, or if you need a little motivation and group support to try it, sign up for the Blog Challenge. I am giving away a $10 Amazon gift certificate to a random participant and now there is even another reward: Jens Hewerer, creator of the Billy Brown series of children’s radio plays, has very generously offered to send a complete CD set of Billy’s adventures to a random participant who completes the challenge!

So if you are “on the fence” and the thought of the potential family/environmental benefits of a TV-free week is not enough to persuade you, perhaps the chance of winning one of two prizes will nudge you over the brink.

Read “the rules” and sign up here.

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By Mom Unplugged, April 19, 2008 9:19 am

Wow! Thursday was my biggest day ever thanks to all the people searching for information about TV-Turnoff Week. I actually had to upgrade my account in order to avoid exceeding my bandwidth! I only went from “Baby” to “Hatchling” … so I am really not THAT big time, but it was certainly a huge surprise for me.

Today I had planned a post with some alternative ideas to TV, so with this kind of an audience, I guess I had better come up with a few!

Since we are TV-free all the time, I can tell you what my kids like to do:

• Read
• Do art projects
• Play outside
• Play imaginary games with each other, or by themselves
• Build with Legos, Knex, or blocks (especially my son) and then create imaginary games
• Dress-up (also leads to imaginary games)
• Play board games either with each other or with me
• Do puzzles
• Write stories (my 2nd grade daughter)
• Play with the cats and dogs

Here are some suggestions and elaborations that might inspire you and your children. If anyone has any other ideas, then please comment!

• We are fortunate to have a great backyard and a swingset…plus a big forested area next door. If you are less well-endowed in the yard department or live in an apartment, then there is always a visit to the park, or playing at a friend’s house, or having a friend over.

• Be tourists for a day. How about a trip to local attractions such as zoos, aquariums, parks, or playgrounds that you might not have been to yet. Think about tourist attractions that you and your children might enjoy. I don’t know about you, but when I live someplace, I tend not to visit all the attractions for which that location is famous!

• Art Projects: you can always search the old Unplugged Projects (the category is: “Unplugged Project” of course!)

• Bring out some board games and have a family game night. My advice for preserving your sanity: try to pick a game that your children like, but that is not deadly boring for the adult participants. (ie. stay away from Candyland - that one sends me into an immediate coma)

• Turn on some music and dance (again: pick something you like too or you’ll go crazy!)

• Try a Kids Cook Night. Pick a recipe that your kids might not ordinarily like. I find that if my kids do the the cooking themselves (with supervision of course), they are more likely to enjoy the meal.

• Listen to a radio play for kids. Jens Hewer, creator of the Adventures of Billy Brown, recently contacted me about his wonderful series of radio plays. These are more than just books on tape. They are fully produced children’s radio plays, a format that has apparently been popular in Germany since the 1970′s. My review is coming soon, but in the meantime, you can download one of Billy’s adventures for free at his website, Giddio. There are also free Billy Brown pages to color. Perfect for Turnoff week and great imaginary fun for kids!

• Volunteer with your kids (especially if they are older). Habitat for Humanity, your local animal shelter, nursing home, or soup kitchen would probably love to have you help out for a day…plus you’d give your children a bit of perspective and teach them the good feeling that comes from helping others.

• Wash the dog, or teach him tricks.

• Take a walk around your neighborhood, or be adventurous and go on a real “nature hike!” Check out these sites for more outdoors/nature-related ideas: Backyard Nature, Green Hour

• Teach your kids to knit, crochet, embroider, or french knit…or learn one of these skills together.

• Visit these sites for more TV-free ideas: Bubblegum Books, Center for Screen-Time Awareness, Instead of TV

• When all else fails…bring out the Mommy I’m Bored Box.

Comments (4)

By Mom Unplugged, May 2, 2007 9:01 pm

The fifteen bloggers who participated in the TV Turn-Off Week Blog Challenge were not the only participants. The day before the beginning of the challenge I was contacted by a blog reader who was also interested in participating in TV Turn-Off Week. She told me her goals and promised an email update at the end of the week. She kindly gave me permission to share her TV Turn-Off story on my blog.

This reader was not concerned about turning off the TV, but worried about her ability to do without the computer, the “other screen.” Her goals for the week were the following:

“1) All computer time needs to be related either to the school carnival I am chairing or to family matters. Everything else will have to wait a week (that includes reading your blog)!

2) Try to re-focus on my New Year’s Resolution. I called it (notice the past tense) PPP. Pride (in my house), Patience (with my children) and Punctuality.

3) Read to my two younger children (ages 5 & 7) at least 20 minutes each day (we have fallen out of the habit). My son is struggling with reading so he reads to me daily. However, I need to read to him more, so he’ll be reminded about how fun books can be.

4) The kids need to be fed (with homework completed) before Dad comes home at 6:30. My dh is a great guy and he works really hard all day long. When he gets home I want him to be able to relax and have some fun with the kids.”

As promised, the day after the challenge ended she emailed me with her result:

“The good news? I was able to stick to my challenge for 4 days.

The bad (discouraging) news? See above.

I will most likely do my version of the challenge at a later date (I’ll keep you posted). I am always up for a challenge. BTW - did read with the kids more last week and we all enjoyed it. And I was more conscious of PPP (Pride, Patience and Punctuality).”

I think she should be proud of herself for having been recreationally computer-free for four days! As I learned last week, that can be very difficult. I don’t know if I could have had it off, except for strict business matters, for four days.

I like her PPP New Year’s Resolution. I think I need to work on that too, especially the “Punctuality” part! It seems that when we turn off our TVs and/or computers (whatever “screen” occupies our time), we do instantly have more time and “mental energy” for focusing on positive things like this reader’s PPP.

I had a similar personal revelation today. Today I took care of a friend’s one year-old, so I was caring for two one year-olds (only three months apart in age!). Dueling babies. It was rather like having twins I suppose. I had decided ahead of time that I would simply have to stay offline. I did check email and comments once during their nap, but otherwise I really was not online.

Since I had already decided that I would not have time for the computer today, I was able to deal with the very mobile, busy babies with mindfulness. My mind was not on what might be happening online. As a consequence, the day went quite smoothly and actually seemed almost easier than some days when it is just me and my one year-old…and my computer!

It all went better for me than during the Blog Challenge where my mind was always half on my computer even as I tried to do other things. It seems to me that FOCUS is the key to success. My reader seemed to have this experience also. Whether it is a “PPP New Year’s Resolution,” or caring for extra babies, the ability to not just turn it off, but forget it, not even expect it, is the key to success.

Thanks so much to this reader who took the time to do the challenge with us, report back, and agree to let me share her story!

Comments (1)

By Mom Unplugged, April 30, 2007 11:08 pm

Congratulations to cloudscome, of A Wrung Sponge for winning the $10 Amazon gift certificate in my random drawing! Please visit her blog and read her TV Turn-Off Challenge posts.

Thanks again to all who so bravely undertook this challenge. I hope you will join us again next time!

Comments (5)

By Mom Unplugged, April 30, 2007 10:48 pm

This was quite an interesting week for me. As I have already mentioned multiple times, we have not had TV for 5 1/2 years, so my challenge to myself was to limit my time online. It was SO HARD!! I think I am definitely addicted.

I planned on trying to limit my online time to an hour a day. You may or may not have noticed that my posts have been far less verbose this past week, which is probably a very good thing! However, my big “problem” seems to be email. If the computer is on (unfortunately it is in the kitchen, where I am most of the time), then I want to “just quickly check” my email every time I walk by it. The pathetic thing is, that more often then not, I get this obnoxious “DING!!!” (which is computer-speak for “you loser, nobody loves you, there is no email for you, ha ha!”). Usually I can just ignore the snub and move on. But this week, I felt so guilty every time I checked my email, that every “ding” felt like being rapped on the knuckles for bad behavior!

After Tuesday, I ended up turning the computer off during the day time. I would check in the morning, and at lunch, and then again at dinner. After the kids were in bed I would do a post. The hardest time was while I was making dinner. The baby was in bed, the kids were playing elsewhere, and I was standing watching the stove with nothing else to do…and my computer would call out to me.

My kids had a great week. They didn’t notice a thing. I had planned on forbidding videos if they asked, but they never did. Among other things, they made a pretend store that sold “potry” (their spelling) - “pottery” made out of construction paper, built a fairy house in the vacant treed lot adjoining ours, built houses out of two huge boxes, read books, made birthday cards, had a Kids Cook Night, and my oldest worked on her school project about piranhas.

I was overly optimistic as to my personal goals which were as follows:

• A maximum of one hour per day online - Hard!! I averaged 1 hour 30 mins per day, which wasn’t my goal, but was less than usual.
• I will order my roses from David Austin - Didn’t do it.
• I will begin watering and weeding my garden - Nope, but most of the week was cold and windy.
• By the end of the week I will have my front porch looking planted and pretty again for spring - Sorry…cold and windy!
• I will try to read an extra book, do a craft, or play a game with my kids after school every day - Yes, we did do something extra after school every day.
• We shall have TWO Kids Cook Nights next week instead of one - Only one.
• I will buy and actually READ the book for my next book club - I bought the book and have read one-third of it.
• I will take at least one long evening bath - Never did it, I just wanted to go to sleep. Sleep or bath, I chose sleep.

But, instead of gardening I did accomplish a big goal that was not on my list, but that was in the back of my mind. I completed a large writing project that I actually never really thought I would do at all. I probably would not have done it if I had not been trying to limit my time online (and if the weather had been nicer).

This week made me far more aware of my time online. I also noticed that the days when I was more successful at avoiding the computer, really seemed more relaxed. I have found, both this week and at other times, that when I spend more time with my kids playing, reading, or just co-existing, we are all more happy and even-tempered.