We spent over a week without TV as a family.... here are the results.

        Recently, our family of four moved from Massachusetts to Virginia. We have been in our house for roughly 10 days, and we still have unopened boxes scatted throughout the houses. Last time we checked it was down to less than 10 boxes, so hopefully we can unpack everything by the weekend. We have set a goal that by Saturday we would have everything unpacked. Organizing is still a work in progress. Each room has a rough sketch of what we want it to look like. Three boxes that remain unpacked (we are saving those for last) is our TV's. We keep one in the living room, one in the master bed and one in our oldest room. Living room and master bed are going to be hooked up with our firesticks for Netflix, Disney +, and the one in our oldest room just has the Xbox 360 hooked up to it. We go in there from time to time to play Xbox together with our son. The house did come with a TV in the attic with the Nintendo Switch. We are big fans of Mario Cart. For those reading Donkey Kong is the best character to use hands down. Anyway, we have noticed that TV is an accessory that that the wife and I have debated on not using. We watch movies on our phones at night and the boys have kid friendly videos on their tablets.

    We have noticed that the kids are more involved in games and activities rather than watch TV. As I type my oldest is building a bead craft and our youngest is playing with cars on his track simulating Mario Kart. Bottom line. We do not miss TV at all. It is an accessory that is not needed. While we may end up hooking up the TVs to clear the boxes, but I hope that we keep our routine of not using them. Our kids are more engaged with us at the table. Typically, dinner would be rushed so the boys can watch a cartoon. Now, we play one our oldest favorite games. We take a character and give hints to what it is. For example, if I pick Sonic the hedgehog, I will say he is in movies and shows, really fast and blue. We go around the table and each person picks a character then describes it. TV time has been replaced with more reading, more conversations and more quality time. If you're having trouble connecting with your kiddos and with your spouse, then turn off the TV a few nights and see the results. I am willing to bet that it will be an overall positive experience. Crafts that build up around the house and now being used. Hudson draws more-creating flipbooks, builds Lego's and uses his imagination more. Instead of competing with electronics as parents we do a lot more activities together. Given the success of this experiment we will most likely cut down on streaming services to save some money! I would highly recommend "unplugging"