Giving Up TV Left More Time for Fighting

We gave up watching television during Lent.
I wish I could say we didn 't miss it. I wish I could say our family read the classics instead of watching Bill Cosby, and that we had long conversations about our hopes, dreams and feelings instead of grunting at each other during commercials of "Family Ties," but I can't.
The only reading that increased was of the TV program listings . The kids read it and then told me what great shows they had missed. As for improved communications, the lack of TV watching only freed up more time for fighting .
We didn 't dive right into this penance. When Lent began, nobody had any ideas , good or bad. So John and I told the kids we were giving up television for a week. After the week passed, everyone felt they had been TV-less long enough and it was time to give up something else , like washing dishes.
"Let's keep the television off," I said.
"You've got to be kidding!" a chorus of protesters shouted. "You said we'd give it up for a week and see how it went."
"It went great so we're going to keep it off until Easter," I responded powerfully."You can watch Sundays and on St. Patrick's Day."
"But the only thing on Sunday is Mass for shut-ins and other religious shows," Maureen said.
'The ban on TV doesn't include watching movies on the video recorder," Patrick said confidently.
"Yes, I'm afraid it does."
"Well," Colleen said, "if we have to make this extraordinary sacrifice, Dad can't watch the news or sports."
'That's right," I said, and John never turned on the TV - until Corazon Aquino took over the Philippines, the stock market started breaking records and the NCAA playoffs began.
"A man's got to be informed, right?" was his justification. That may be true, but I'm not sure why he needs to be informed about basketball.
At first, it was a pleasant relief not to have to compete with the blasting box. And since I never seemed to see the shows I liked, I doubted I would miss TV. But I did miss it.
I missed seeing what Jan Pauley was wearing each morning on the "Today" show. I missed guessing the puzzles on the "Wheel of Fortune," and I really missed keeping track of my soap opera characters.
Most of all, I missed using the television as a baby-sitter, At 3 p.m. every afternoon when the kids are losing their good nature, it is nice to have He-Man and She-Ra and the "Masters of the
Universe" program do the entertaining, instead of leaving it to the plastic 6-inch He-Man and She-Ra figures and me.
When I asked the kids how they benefited from this televisionless experience, Machaela, who is 7, said, "Well, TV is bad for you. I wonder why they invented something bad for you like TV?"
Said Colleen: "I learned that next year I'm going to think of something to do for Lent before you get any more great ideas for us."
April 2, 1986