Turn Off the TV

When Erik and I were first married we spent most evenings watching television with our computers in our lap, we even ate dinner with the TV on. This "arrangement" bugged me! Looking back this makes me sad, we lost out on a lot of precious alone time. 
When I got pregnant with Thomas I started reading about all the negative side affects/consequences of screen time on children. I decided I wanted to keep my child from learning the same screen habits that we had developed. I brought up the idea of not watching TV while the baby was awake and Erik almost immediately said NO! (this was the reaction I expected) I knew I wouldn't be successful in my efforts to keep our child screen free without the support of Erik. After a few discussions he agreed to the idea. 
It was quite an adjustment at first. I remember wondering why we weren't watching the Super Bowl, it wasn't like our week old baby was going to suffer developmental delays because his parents watched a football game on TV. Which is the truth, it wouldn't have harmed Thomas to sleep on Erik's chest while he sat on the couch watching TV. But the next thing you know is he is three months old and you want to watch the season finale of your favorite show, he's 9 months old and you want to watch the season premier of your favorite show and now he is one and March Madness is starting. I knew it would be easier to quit cold turkey from the beginning. 
I don't want to mislead anyone, Erik and I still watch plenty of TV, just not while Thomas is awake. I never turn it on during the day, not even while he is napping. There have been days when I think, "man it would be so nice to plop Thomas down in front of the TV for 30 minutes. I could get so much done if he were entertained for just a few minutes." It would be an easy habit to get into and an even harder one to break. I have to remind myself that what is easy to do is rarely the right thing to do. 
I must also explain that Thomas HAS been exposed to television on many occasions. We have eaten at restaurants with walls covered in televisions, we've been guests in homes when the TV was on, and we have even hosted people (in our own home) to watch the big game. Luckily, when we have people over Thomas is more interested and excited by their company to even notice the TV. And, if he is going to be exposed I prefer he be watching a sporting event rather than my favorite medical drama. :) 
Erik recently mentioned how happy he is with the decision we've made to keep all screens off while Thomas is awake. We both adore the time we spend together as a family with no distractions. I am confident that the decision we've made has been more beneficial to Thomas rather than detrimental. 
The average American will spend 9 years of their life watching TV. Children spend approximately 900 hours a year in school and on average watch 1460 hours (approx 4 hours a day) of television a year.  
This week, April 29-May 5, 2013 is National Turn Off the TV Week! If you can't turn it off, can you cut back? I can almost promise you won't regret it!