Turn Off & Tune In | MarriagePartnership.com

9 Ways to Reduce Your Family's TV Time

Participate in TV-Turnoff Week on April 21-27 (check out www.tvturnoff.org for more information).
Relegate the TV to an out of the way place or limit it only to the den or family room.
Remove television sets from all bedrooms—including yours!
Get rid of your satellite dish or cancel your cable subscription. Use the money you save to do something fun with your family every month.
Limit yourselves and your kids to a certain number of TV watching hours per week. Make a TV log to plan and keep track.
Check the TV guide to plan what you want to watch, rather than flicking on the TV out of habit and channel surfing.
Turn off the TV during meals.
Dig out those board games and plan family nights once a week that don't revolve around television.
Rearrange your furniture so it doesn't face the TV.

—S.W.G

29 Alternatives to the Tube

Go to the library or a book store as a family.
Volunteer in your community.
Try a new hobby, such as pottery or astronomy.
Pray.
Play laser tag.
Have your family cook a meal or bake cookies together.
Hold a pizza party.
Go for a walk.
Go skating.
Start a journal.
Organize your recipes into a cookbook.
Write a letter to someone you haven't written in a while.
Tell stories.
Go through your wedding album or old photo albums or scrapbooks.
Practice your photography skills—then make a scrapbook.
Play a game.
Attend a local community theater production or art gallery.
Tour your local historical society.
Go to a high school or college sporting event.
Tackle household repairs.
Study a foreign language.
Listen to an audio book.
Call friends you haven't spoken to in a while.
Study your Bible.
Go bowling.
Take a drive and look at houses.
Walk through model homes.
Exercise.
Make love.

When Your Spouse Won't Tune Out

Negotiate. If your mate lives in front of the television, try to negotiate for some family time. Ask your spouse to reserve one night of the week for family nights, or to reserve an hour or so each evening to be with you and the kids. In return, don't pester him or her about watching television at other times.
Plan. Sometimes we watch TV because it's our "default" setting: It's easier to watch TV than to find something else to do. If you plan activities your spouse enjoys, though, you may be able to stop the TV from getting turned on in the first place! Invite friends to dinner, go biking, go for a walk together, or start a new hobby that appeals to your spouse.
Join your spouse. No, don't become a couch potato with him. But show some interest in his favorite shows. Ask him, without accusing, why he likes certain shows and not others. Once he sees you showing genuine interest, he's more likely to return the favor and spend time with you doing something else.
Back off. Don't nag. Fighting about television is likely to strengthen your spouse's resolve. Leave room for God to speak to your spouse.
Do something else. If your spouse doesn't cooperate, find something else to do on your own: exercise, read, spend time on a favorite hobby, play a game with the kids.
Pray. Give this issue to God. Ask him to give everyone in your family the right attitude about their use of time, and trust God to do the convincing for you.

—S.W.G

That's when it hit me. We had this same routine every Thursday night—not because Keith was insensitive, but because I was depressed. And the culprit was easy to find: ER. I loved that show, but boy did it wreak havoc with my emotions!

A few weeks later I started a new chapter in my life. For a past soap and Oprah-holic, it was a radical departure. I stopped watching television. And in so doing, I discovered my life, my husband, and my family, perhaps for the first time. I started playing with my kids, finding new hobbies, making new friends, and nurturing my marriage. And my conversations became deeper than, "Move, you're in the way."

April 21-27 has been designated TV-Turnoff Week, when around the country families will turn off the television, pull out the Monopoly games and the inline skates, and enjoy being with each other. If you've had the nagging feeling that the TV is on in your house far more than it needs to be, here's your chance to experience what it would be like to live without it. Here's what you're likely to find:

I learned long ago that gravity is heaviest on the couch that's right in front of the TV. Once you start watching, it's so hard to get up. Nielsen Media Research reports that the average American watches four hours of television of day. That equals five full days a month, two months a year, and almost 11 years by the time you reach 65.

Janice feels her husband is well on his way to that 11 years. When Tom comes home from work, he immediately flicks on the TV, yet never manages to flick it back off. For Janice, who always dreamed of a TV-free home, Tom's viewing habits came as a shock.