Sports Widow

TV Turn-off Week Frustrates My Sports Fans

April 24, 2008 9:07 AM | 0 Comments

This week, April 21-27, is the official TV Turn-off Week, so I decided to sacrifice myself to the volcano and take the plunge into the fiery abyss of TV addiction in my household. While the mushroom cloud over West Seattle is probably visible from space, we're surviving, but it's not pretty -- especially for the sports fans in my family, namely my husband Bryan and his mini-me, 10-year-old Austin. So here's my accounting of TV Turn-off Week as we conclude it.

Winning Strategy
Since our family (apart from me because I overdosed on TV as a child) is in such dire shape from the TV-watching perspective, I narrowed the week to five days - Monday through Friday - but I expanded the interpretation to include ALL screens, including video games and computers. We secured the same agreement with our after-school care.

Incentives
I offered each child a maximum $15 item as a reward for compliance. My 8-year-old daughter Caroline requested a Webkin; my 13-year-old daughter Kit requested a book, and 10-year-old Austin, not surprisingly, requested a ticket to a Seattle Mariners Game, which probably exceeds the limit (but he'd get there one way or another, so I may as well get points for it).

Whining
At about Day 2, I started to hear complaints and pleas for special dispensations from the crowd, particularly Bryan and Austin, who were banned from watching the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs and the Seattle Mariners . Their only consolation was the radio, their sports lifeline. Fortunately, my youngest daughter placed cheerful signs over the two TV screens as visual reminders that they were verboden.

Treachery
Several times, after the kids went to bed, Bryan suggested we turn the TV on for awhile, but I denied his requests and desire for a double-standard. Several times, Austin said he'd forfeit the reward, with hand defiantly hovering over the remote control, but he never went through with it. Ironically, the girls have been doing just fine, and the lack of distractions has prompted my adolescent daughter to share more at the dinner table.

True Confessions
OK, I, too, have had my weak moments. The TV is the great anaesthetizer, and sometimes it's nice after a long day to allow the kids to veg in front of it for a while. Additionally, I made the mistake of renting "good night, and good luck." at the local Blockbuster just before we really decided to go through with this challenge, and George Clooney has been tempting me all week. But, I'm holding steady.

Last Resort
I once had the opportunity to interview Mitch Altman, the inventor of TV-B-Gone, a universal remote control that gives you the power to turn off and on virtually any television. It's produced by Cornfield Electronics, a name which appeals to my Midwestern roots, and costs $19.99. Looking ahead to next year, I'm considering adding the pocket-sized device to my arsenal.

Did you participate in TV Turn-off Week or were you too much of a weenie??? Speaking of weenies, next Monday I work the Little League Baseball Snack Shack. We'll see if I can overcome my fear of the hotdog rotisserie.

In the meantime, Good Night, and Good Luck!

The Sports Widow
(aka Nan Hall)