TV/Computer Budget

For those that don't know, Rob and I started out our married life with no TV at all! We actually used to do productive things with that time that we could've been sitting in front of it mindlessly. Time passed and when Alton was 18mos old, we began to realize there could be some benefit in just having a video for him to watch occasionally. We bought a small TV/VCR combo and because we were stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood Mo, there were no stations to be had without cable. The same went for our next duty station, Ft. Polk. However while there, Rob came home one day with a full sized TV and entertainment center. We still had no channels, just the opportunity to rent movies and watch them on a bigger screen.

This worked great for awhile. Time passed and our 8th year of marriage, we moved to Ft. Carson CO. Then came the big slide. I came home one day to see Rob hanging out on the couch watching the World Series. I asked how this was possible. With a half guilty, have joyous expression, he pointed out the rabbit-eared, high-tech antennae he had purchased for the big TV. I was annoyed by this. I didn't let the kids watch anything except for "Funniest Home Videos" on Sunday nights. The problem was, there was no one to monitor my own TV usage. I quickly became an HGTV and reality show junkie. Every evening of the week there was something to watch on TV. Now Rob was annoyed (he hates reality shows), but I simply pointed out that he was the one that got the antennae. Oh yes, and before we left Ft. Carson, we had Dish. We were now like any normal American family.

Since then, I've always been strict with the kids about what and how much they watch, making exceptions only if they were sick or I was super busy etc.. This summer, with unpacking boxes and trying to get settled, it was very easy for me to say "yes" anytime the kids wanted to turn on Boomerang (Alton's favorite channel with all cartoons that I grew up with). Now, that we're more settled and school has begun, I've implemented a new system that the kids really like.

I had some colored popsicle sticks and assigned each kid a color. Each stick represented 30 minutes of either TV or computer time whatever they chose (yes, there is much competition for the computer at our house these days). They each get 9 sticks for the week which comes out to 4 1/2 hours a week. There is the opportunity to earn bonus 30 min sticks for each book they read (but no more than two) for a total of 5 1/2 hours. Both Alton and Alayna are quick to earn their bonus sticks. Avery never even gets close to using all his sticks and since he cant read, well... The interesting thing so far, and this is our third week, is that no one has ever used all their sticks for the week yet. They are very conservative with them. It has definitely cut back on watching tv just from boredom. There are some exceptions. If Rob comes home and turns on the TV for 15 minutes before dinner is ready, then they aren't charged a stick. Alton has also figured out that I will allow him on the computer "stick free" if he is doing research about something on Wikipedia.org which he does often for all the comics and stories he writes. As for all the TV I was watching in Colorado? Well, there just doesn't seem to be time for any these days. Rob and I cancelled Netflix and only watch one or two shows that we record each week. The annoying thing is, it takes us forever to watch that. We just last night found out that Joshua won "So You Think You Can Dance." It took us that long to get to it!

Anyway, if your family is watching too much TV, try the stick budget and see what happens!