{"id":966,"date":"2022-12-06T21:05:39","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/khetwise.com\/blog\/living-without-a-tv\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T21:05:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:05:39","slug":"living-without-a-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/khetwise.com\/blog\/living-without-a-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Without A TV | The Best Move Our Family Made"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ll share our experience as a family with young kids living without a TV, the benefits we\u2019ve seen, and TV alternatives you can turn to for entertainment, information, and education.<\/p>\n

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The Case For Living Without A TV<\/h2>\n

Back in 2016 I came across this statistic:<\/p>\n

The average American watches nearly 10 YEARS of television over the course of their lifetime.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a decade!<\/p>\n

Both Joelle and I were already well into that statistic before reading it. We both grew up on TV. Catching all the shows and sporting events. Meal times. Before school. After school. For hours each day, TV was the norm.<\/p>\n

Since getting married in 2009, we\u2019ve made some unconventional decisions to question, and ultimately abandon, many of the \u2018systems\u2019 we had been a part of our whole lives. As our name, From Scratch Farmstead, might give away, the food system<\/a> was one of the biggest changes for us, exchanging a diet of processed, convenience foods for nourishing, whole foods.<\/p>\n

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Other systems followed – healthcare<\/a>, education, finances<\/a>, consumerism<\/a>, and more. What we\u2019ve found on the other side, in rethinking these systems, was freedom. Freedom to carve out our own path and not just follow cultural expectations. Freedom to build a lifestyle that aligns with our own values, beliefs, and goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Giving up TV has been no different for our family. Television isn\u2019t so much a system in and of itself. But, it\u2019s a conduit that so many societal systems are pushed through. News, agendas, commercials, societal norms, and pressures.<\/p>\n

The more we became aware of this reality the more we wanted to keep our distance.<\/p>\n

The process of living without a TV has been gradual for us. We never had a defining moment or conversation where we gave it up altogether. <\/p>\n

But, we are so grateful to now be breaking the habit of daily TV consumption and be redefining those 10 valuable years of life – for us and for our children.<\/p>\n

Do we have a TV?<\/h2>\n

Technically, yes. I know, shocker, right?!<\/p>\n

Early in our marriage we took our tax refund to Best Buy and purchased a snazzy 32\u201d flat panel TV. In those early years, we had it prominently displayed in our living room, streamed a couple of weekly shows, and caught whatever live TV we could through an antenna.<\/p>\n

By the time our first child came along, we were already finding less and less time to watch TV. Plus we were fairly aware of the detrimental effects screens can have on children, especially during those developmental years. So, we kept the TV but tucked it away in a wardrobe in our living room. It only got used for the occasional show or movie after kids were in bed.<\/p>\n

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