Family TV Night

For some people, watching television is thought of as a negative, but for my family, we've turned it into a positive. I don't allow my children to watch hours upon hours of unsupervised TV. Instead I take an active role in helping them select what they're going to watch and how many hours they spend doing it. The kids aren't allowed to have TVs in their bedrooms. They must watch their shows on one of the family TVs. Beyond that, we make TV watching a family event. We often cuddle together on the couch and watch Discovery Channel, Animal Planet or the evening news. In fact we've even made TV into a tradition at our house. Before the new programs debut in the fall, we select one show we'd like to watch together and we make a date of it for the season. Two years ago it was American Idol, last year it was Mythbusters. We’re still waiting to pick the new show for this fall. We all enjoy watching the show, but even better, we enjoy the time we spend together. I usually pop a bowl of popcorn or pick up some snacks to share for the evening. We share what went on during the day and often let the show lead us into new topics of discussion. On the nights when everyone doesn't have to run off to do homework, we often follow-up the TV program with a board game.

~Cindy P., Addison, IL

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