No TV for a Month?

Sounds like a punishment, right? But it isn't. Several months ago, the government issued digital boxes to those who didn't own digital tv's. We were one of those families. A few weeks ago, the box expired, broke, went off line---basically The Pope Family had no access to a television. At first it was hard. We watched DVD's all weekend(the box went out on a Friday evening). Princess Zaria and I watched Dreamgirls until she was able to act out all the parts. I can't hear 'Step into the Bad Side' without rolling my eyes. LOL.

We exhausted all of our dvd's in a little less than a week. Then, we started borrowing movies. We have a box full of VHS movies but who has the antique equipment to play the movies???? After watching movies, we began playing board games. We played Scrabble, Taboo, Uno, Sorry even DVD Disney Bingo. Things started getting easier. We began talking more. How was your day today led to full fledge family discussions. We talked about school, work, friends, favorite foods, etc. Sometimes, I don't miss the tv as much.

When I was in high school, I had a teacher (Mr. Glass) who proudly claimed that he didn't own a tv. I think he called it the 'boob tube' or something weird like that. He said that he used the time to read or travel. I was skeptical back then and thought "How could anyone not own a tv-on purpose?" Well, as I'm older I see. Now, I'm not saying we won't get another box or purchase a digital tv but it has been an eye-opening experience.

The next time you hear a media campaign urging viewers to turn off the tv for a day, try it. Try it for a week or even a month. It will, at the least, bring your family closer.

Do you think you could go with television for a week?

Why Are You Thankful?

It's amazing what comes out of the mouths of babes. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time. When many think of Thanksgiving they think of food: turkey, candied yams, ham, sweet potatoe pies, dressing, mac and cheese, etc. Believe me, we had all that and more. As a family, we visited my in-laws like we do every single year. This time, we decided to gather in a circle and let everyone share why they were thankful. As you'd imagine, many of us were thankful for family, health, jobs, home and friends.

Then the time came for Princess Zaria to recite why she was thankful.

"I'm thankful for nature. If it wasn't for nature, we wouldn't have bees. If we didn't have bees, we wouldn't have honey. If we didn't have honey, we wouldn't have anything to sweeten our tea."

I laughed so hard and loud. WOW!!!

Out of the mouths of babes.