Life Without Television? Is it possible?

What would life be like without television?  For me?  For my family?  I have been thinking about it lately.  As part of the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover plan and Adam Hamilton's Enough series, they both have me analyzing what are "wants" and what are "needs" in my life.  T.v. has always come to mind when we are tightening our budget, but quickly glossed over because we need it...don't we?  I mean, could I get by without Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Food Challenge....well, for that matter, the Food Network, as a whole...Big Bang Theory, The Middle, Glenn Beck, House Hunters, The Mentalist, Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway, 19 Kids and Counting...to name just a few of the shows that regularly take up space on my DVR.

Then there is T.V as a way for me to get a break from my kids and give them a break from me too.  Spongebob, Elmo, Dora, iCarly, Sprout....could we do it?

Then there is Rainman and sports. 

Could we do it?  Should we do it?

Would my life really be so horrible if I couldn't watch pseudo-celebrities dance every week?  Or if I didn't watch an innuendo laden sit-com?  Or watch good food being prepared that I will never be able to make on my own?  What if my kids didn't know who Handy Manny was....or Zach and Cody?

My fear is that we will just become a family more obsessed with computer time.  We have one working computer in our house.  And, really, there is almost a constant fight for who gets to go on next and how long they will get to be on-line.  We had an old refurbished laptop with a flash drive enabled internet connection - but now we can't get on-line - not sure which thing is the problem....but it was slow and you couldn't check e-mail or facebook or anything that needed a password to gain access....

I have mentioned my  musings to the kids.  I am sure you will be shocked to know that they are totally against the idea!!!  I sort of see their point.  I loved T.V. even when I was a kid.  I loved Saturday nights with Love Boat and Fantasy Island....I have fond memories of sneaking and watching forbidden shows like Dallas and Falcon Crest too.  But, the shows have changed a bit since those days....language allowed has changed....innuendo can be found in almost every show....kissing and more from all sides of the equation....Do we really need all of that "stuff" getting into their heads?  Don't even get me started on the physical aspects of how women "should" look based on the ones that are on T.V.

But, then I think, we homeschool them.  We don't have video games....at all....no PlayStation, no DS, no Wii, no Nintendo....nothing.  They don't have cell phones.  They don't have their own rooms.  They usually don't even have new clothes.  They don't have much that a lot of kids today have - so what kind of mom would it make me if I took T.V. away too? 

I dream of us all sitting around the fireplace reading....or doing a craft project....or a jigsaw puzzle.  Actually, we love to do puzzles together...but usually the T.V. is on in the background....sometimes it is actually on a music station though.  Did you know with Direct TV you get like 100 music channels?  Could I live without having a latin music station....or a hair band station....or a garage band/grunge station?  Well, yeah, I could live without those specific ones....but I do like my contemporary Christian station and the Sinatra station and when I want to feel old, the 80's station.

What do you think?  Have you ever considered this drastic move? 

Anyway, I would love to hear from you....pros and cons....have you ever gone without T.V.....or cable....things that went well without T.V.....nightmares without T.V.....you get the idea!!!