Just a note before you dive into this post: I am IN NO WAY putting down any choices of any parent. I truly believe that as long as we love our children, they are in the best of hands. I am only sharing a personal choice and experience.

When you walk into my house, one of the first things you may notice is our lack of TV. But before you walk away thinking we are a family of crazy masochists (trust me, I get it I do!!) please let me give you a little background.

It’s true, we currently do not own a single TV in our home. But don’t think I don’t watch television…in fact my current obsession is bingeing Queer Eye on my laptop after Cliff is in bed or when my children bless me with the miraculous “both kids napping at once” phenomena. (I would love for Antoni to come make me alllllll the food.)

Dean and I had a TV up until we moved here to Japan. What prompted us getting rid of it was actually the lack of space we have here in our current home. When we received our household goods shipment, we were having trouble deciding where to put our TV and what to put it on (we had recently sold our old stand). I don’t remember who said it first, but one of us spontaneously said “why don’t we sell it and try living without a TV for a little bit?”. I don’t think either one of us thought we would actually do it, but to our surprise, we did.

Not to throw anyone under the bus here, but I will say that my husband is sliiiiightly more passionate about our no-TV home than I am (read into that what you will lol). He was raised in a home without television and has only positive memories of his early childhood. Since getting rid of our own television, he has read up on research about the effects of TV on children under the age of 2 and has been able to convince me that this lifestyle- at least for a couple of years- is worth the try.

Please note that last word- TRY. We have recently had our second baby and keeping our toddler entertained by myself is significantly more challenging than it was a month ago. I’ll be completely honest- some days it can be a serious struggle bus over here ( and um Dean has only been back to work ONE WEEK PEOPLE). So yeah. I make no promises that we will keep this up, only that I’ve made up my mind to try it out.

We don’t mind if our toddler watches TV outside of the home, and if he watches something on our laptops occasionally, that’s fine too! The hope is just that if we don’t have a TV sitting out in our living room, we will be more likely to turn to other options for playtime and distraction.

It is also important to note that this is TEMPORARY. When we move from Japan, I definitely want to have a good sized TV for family movie nights and to watch The Bachelor on girl’s nights with my friends again. I have such good childhood memories of my whole family sitting around our living room on Saturday nights chowing down on popcorn and watching a rented Blockbuster movie. I want to share similar experiences with my children.

It feels strange sometimes, not having a TV. I always feel like I have to explain myself to people and convince them that I’m not a total weirdo. I also don’t like not being able to reciprocate hosting movie nights with friends. However, for now at least, I think the pros outweigh the cons for me. I still walk the electronics section of the base exchange thinking about which big screen I would buy next, but I don’t mind waiting a little while longer.

I also know that cutting a TV from our home isn’t the only answer. Recently, I have found myself struggling to take my eyes off of my dang phone while I’m nursing our baby, when I should be talking to our toddler and interacting with him. This type of distracted parenting is also certainly not recommended, and I know that but I still do it.

We all want what is best for our children, but we are also all still trying to live our lives, get things done, and keep up with the outside world. Whatever choices we make to find a balance between all of that are our own dang business. I only want to lift you up, not criticize. That said, if the idea of having a no-TV home has ever crossed your mind, I want to give you the confidence to go for it!! You can always buy another (nicer, newer…) TV if you change your mind later. That’s what I keep telling myself :)

Love,

Abbie