Hey Mom, who locked the TV?

[LisaK in VA]

I work from home. I have a Nanny. Despite often communicated information about when the children were allowed to watch TV, and what they weren't allowed to watch -- they children paid no attention.

So, on Monday, while the Nanny was gone, I'd had enough. The children were all in the back room playing happilly. While they were gone, I re-programmed the television, "locking out" every single channel I didn't want them watching (okay, every channel THEY want to watch, that I don't want them watching... they have no interest in HSN <yet>.

After the initial shock wore off -- it was almost like magic. My television remained OFF nearly all the time, and there was nothing on I wouldn't want my 2yo and 4yo watching.

Peace reigns in the house... Now, to delete all of the recorded programs the dc have saved all over the media center :D

[ChocolatePrincess]

We are thinking about changing from cable to satelite tv. I thought it would be great just to get rid of it over the summer........it is such a waste of money. We could all use the exercise and sunshine that summer affords.

I know we have taken it away from the kids before and it is hard at first but after a while they don't even miss it anymore!

[asher]

We locked the channels, too & set allowable times for them to watch a bit back, but we've gotten away from that. I'm glad to see it's working for you! I'd go w/o cable, too, if it were up to me :)

[JWSJ]

We removed our TV 5 years ago. After the first week we never even questioned having one. It was such a time waster.

[CookieMonster]

:) I'm glad that went well for you!

[elbac]

I did that several months back. It was the best thing I ever did. Now it's rare that I even see the kids watching tv.

Because of how our house is laid out, we do have two satellite receivers. It just dawned on me, the other day, that one of them we have not actually used to watch tv in almost 3 months now. So, it looks like I may be saving myself $5 a month by sending that puppy back.

[Plaid Dad]

Good for you! We got rid of the TV when dd was an infant, and we've never looked back. Enjoy your freedom!

[Carolyn in Ohio]

How do you lock out channels? Is it something built into the TV, or a separate device?

thanks
Carolyn

[elbac]

I think some tv's have the feature, however we locked ours through our Dish receiver. The channels were still accessible, but you had to enter a 4 digit password in order to view any that were locked.

[Jennifer in MI]

Heehee!! Good for you!! We've got certain channels and certain shows locked with a password. The kids keep trying to figure it out, but they haven't yet!! (Actually they're really good kids - and if they ever figured it out, I think they'd tell me about it.)

We do still have cable. Dh needs his sports. I need my HGTV and Discovery Health!

[cin]

our cable has a block feature. our TV defaults to Noggin, and the kids only watch when they are told. We have a very hi-tech set-up, so touching anything is a High Crime, including the remote. DD6 can watch noggin during naptime, if math is done. We usually have lunch in front of the TV. (I've spent the morning with them, we don't need more together time!) But lunch TV is usually a video. Bill Nye and Charlie Brown are the favorites.

[Karin]

I don't like TV and would gladly live without one. Okay one with basic network cable so I can watch only my brother when he has a TV series or guest star role (for cable or Canadian network shows, I rely on family to send videos. But no more horror movies ever, ever again. Those not famous seem to have to take any role they can get.)

What I did when my dc were little was to enter a password so that our TV could only be turned on with the remote by someone who knew the password (dh and I.) We no longer need the password as dc don't even try to put it on by themselves.

[Carolyn in Ohio]

I guess I need to read my tv manual.

thanks
Carolyn