Nattie Writes!

How much is too much?

This is not an easy question for me to answer. In the past few months I have started seeing TV as a non essential. It has given me more free time. If there is one show I like at 8:00, I don't have to watch the whole line up. It is becoming easier to turn the TV off. But I am sure I still watch too much TV. A friend of mine mentioned that Billy Graham's one regret was that he watched too much TV. How much TV could a man of God like him watch? Food for thought.

How much television do you let your kids watch?

Again, too much! My husband isn't very discriminatoroy about how much TV the children watch. When I punish the kids for something by taking the TV away, my husband will tell me I am punishing him. So when he is gone to work, I turn the TV off more. It is still on too much.

Are there any shows that you deem appropriate for your children?

We generally watch PBS. We don't have cable, so that is the only channel with cartoons on in the daytime. I don't know how much longer we'll be watching it. "Sesame Street" has decided to go even farther in educating our children. They have introduced a gay family to some segments. I want to be the one who tells my children about these things--not "Sesame Street."

What about cable, satellite or local programming only? What do you prefer?

We don't have cable so we just get the local stations. I like PBS, but like I stated above they aren't perfect. I do miss the Disney Channel, Nick Jr, Nick at night, TV Land and AMC. Disney and Nick Jr had some good programs for the kids like "Rolie Polie Olie," "Stanley," "Blues Clues" and "Little Bill." We can still see some of those programs by getting their videos at the library. I like Nick-at-night and TVLand for the classic reruns--like "I Love Lucy" and "Andy Griffith" and AMC always had good older movies on which is what I prefer.

Do you have any shows you watch as a family, maybe sporting events?

We don't really have any shows we watch as a family. Occassionally we have a family movie night and we usually pick a movie like "The Tigger Movie" or "Lilo and Stich" to watch together. The kids really aren't into sports yet. They are only three and five. They will occassionally watch NASCAR with my husband.

How do you reflect your Christian beliefs in what you choose to watch and let your children watch on the television?

I have gotten lax in this department. I used to be really selective about what the children watched. I've gotten lax with my own viewing too. As Christians, I believe we should be selective--garbage in, garbage out. I am becoming less and less comfortable watching shows like "Will and Grace," etc. In fact I've decided the only show I will watch on "Must See TV" Thursdays is "Friends."

What about you? What do you watch? What are your favorite shows during the week? Do you ever feel guilty for watching something or do you feel fine about all that you watch each week? ;-)

Here are the shows I try to catch every week (although during the summer I will miss them if they are reruns):
Mondays--"Everybody Loves Raymond"
Tuesdays--"All of Us"
Thursdays--"Friends"
Fridays--"Reba"
Saturdays--"The District"

I also like to watch some reruns, but don't die if I can't watch them. ;o) Here are the reruns I watch:

"Everybody Love Raymond"
"Friends"
"I Love Lucy"
"Andy Griffith"
"Dharma and Greg"
"Are You Being Served"
"Cosby Show"

Again, I don't watch them consistently, but these are available on local stations. I also like "American Idol," but that is a seasonal show.

Occasionally I catch "Oprah" or "Dr. Phil," but I'm okay with missing them unless they are on a subject I'm looking forward too. I also like to watch "Life Today" on our Christian station and will tune it to Joyce Meyer as I can. I will also watch the "700 Club" when I can. I am fairly comfortable with my tv viewing.

I recently got hooked on very non-Christian show called "The OC." It is on hiatus till October. I'm going to have to fight myself to not watch it. They left a killer cliff hanger last week. Oh, the humanity!

I also should probably give up "Friends," but I "grew up" with them. They have been on since I was 20 or so and they are like my own friends.

Do you think you could find other ways to spend your time away from the television? If you turned off the television what would you do instead? Maybe you already turn it off--what kinds of things have you found more time for since you turned it off?

I tend to read more (if that is humanly possible--I already read a lot). I find more time for exercise. I get outside more when I'm not tied to the "tube." I will also write more, scrapbook and even cross-stitch.

I would really like to start limiting the children's and my TV viewing. It is going to be challenging, but if I'm vigilant it can be done. It will be harder during the winter, especially if it is a bad one. But for now, my goal is to turn the TV off as soon as my hubby goes to work. Then I will only watch TV when my scheduled shows are on and I will stop watching the reruns unless I have nothing else to do and there is always something to do as a mother of two, wife, writer and growing Christian.

Copyright Natalie Rose York