Thursday, January 28, 2010

One small step for man...

One giant leap for man's time!

We've been entertaining the idea for a while, to shut off our satellite tv. I've lost interest in most of my shows, and Jake is mainly in it for the ball games. We knew it would hit the kids the hardest. They watch too much tv.

Jake promised that when the Cowboys were finished with their season, we could shut it off.

The playoffs came, and Jake was on the edge of his seat...rooting for his team, and for his satellite services.

When the Boys lost their second playoff game, I didn't want to add insult to injury. I didn't say a word about the tv...and gave Jake a proper amount of time to mourn his teams' loss, and distract himself with his shows.

Yesterday, his time was up.

I casually mentioned, "Oh yeah. Weren't we going to shut off the satellite now that your Boys are done?"

"Oh...um...yeah. I guess we were."

"Why don't you do it," I dared.

Likely, hoping I was bluffing, he grabbed the phone, and dialed the number to cancel the service.

I knew this was going to be hard, because I knew the people on the other end of the phone, weren't going to let this go without a fight. I knew they'd sell their asses off, trying to get him to stay.

As I expected, from Jake's end of the convo, I heard, "Well...nah...just cancel it. NO, it's not really about the money. I'd just like to cancel. Well, is that even possible? So, it'll only cost me this much, if I drop those channels? Really? Yeah, let's keep the Tivo, and HD. Sure, we'll give that a try."

He hung up the phone, and turned to look at me. No words were needed. My eyes said, "You big puss!"

He bumbled and fumbled, and tried to justify keeping a few channels. He tried to sell it to me, as it had been sold to him, that he was weaning himself off the tv.

I wasn't buying it. I didn't say anything. I just figured it was gonna take some time, and that this was a decent first step.

Then he says, "Fuck it," and he dialed the phone again.

He stood his ground this time, and even when she offered him a discount on our service, he was strong, and had her disconnect our satellite.

We had a couple of hours left with it.

The kids plopped down in front of it, absorbing as much Hannah Montanna, Spongebob, and WWE as they could, I sat down to watch a few shows left on Tivo, and Jake couldn't bear to see the tv. Not even to say goodbye.

Jake took Lil to practice, the boys were still soaking it in.

At 7pm CST, on January 27, 2010, the satellite went out.

I knew it was gone because of the screams of horror that bellowed from the play room. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Then, Avery stormed past me, announcing that he was going to bed since there was nothing else to do.

This was gonna be even better than I expected.

We have grand plans for our time that has been freed. Bike rides, games, we'll still have movies, maybe I'll get around to all that laundry, and Jake says he might start a band!

Yeah...I'm betting it's back on within the year!!

19 comments:

Scott S. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scott S. said...

I deleted that last one cause I didnt spell something right. You have got to give that man his satelitte. We as men need it, want it, got to have it. Give him Liberty or Give him Death. We have the right to bear arms and remotes. So his Cowboys lost and this is how you make him feel better? Do you not have a heart? He would not have called if you didnt MAKE him. It is a sad day for men across the land. Jake, I may not feel your pain, but I feel like I lost a brother right now.

Margaret said...

I am with you on this one. I have learned to live without the TV and now I don't even miss it.

Heidi said...

So who's house are you going to every night??

Stacey said...

Isn't it funny how cheap it becomes when you want to shut it off??!! All of a sudden, they can give you all kinds of deals!
Good for you for getting rid of it. You always pay for a bunch of channels you never watch!

Allie said...

Wow, you are so brave....I'm with Avery, I'd just have to go to bed, cause I'd be bored to tears!

Kaolinmommy said...

No way! We are in the process of doing the same thing. It has been HARD to get hubby to let go. Keep us posted.

Bridget said...

Laughing my butt off at the post and "This Daddy's" commment! Hilarious!

We just turned ours back on, but it's just background noise...I'm usually blogging and facebooking or cleaning house.

Scott S. said...

This is no laughing matter. Recent studies show that no satellite tv in a home results in a boost in baby making. Remember the great tv blackout of 99'? That is the year when the most babies were born. I am begging you Nikki, don't tear out Jakes heart like this

Nikki B. said...

this daddy - ROFL! lucky for us...i no longer have a uterus. so, as for the "great baby making tv blackout," we'll survive!

margaret - i'm hoping that's how it'll go!

heidi - yeah...why pay for satellite when they neighbors do?

stacey - we had to drop it on principle alone after they offered us a discount. assholes!

allie - means you'll see a lot more of my kids roaming the streets!

emily - def will. anxious to see how long we last!

bridget - uh oh. it didn't go so well, then?

Kimmy said...

Wow!! That takes guts. Really! I don't watch that much tv but I have to confess, I would be a mess. I have to have the background noise, at least. Sure, music works sometimes but I can not stand to have music on at night time.
Can't wait to see how long this plays out..lol!

Scott S. said...

Nikki, I wrote a post for you and Jake.

Anonymous said...

We haven't had cable in years! No cable bill either! We actually get quite a few local network channels with our super rabbit ears on top of the house. Lemme tell ya though, without Netflix Watch Instantly, I'd have been in the funny farm a long time ago. That thing is a life saver. It's awesome because we can watch on the computer or on the tv through the xbox360. Love it!

Scott S. said...

Everyone needs to keep their cable/satellite free lovin' comments to themselves, because if I get home and Tracy has cancelled our shit, I will hunt you all down.
Have a nice night

Anonymous said...

I read often, but have never commented. I love the way you parent and totally get your sense of humor :) In September we started no TV during the week. Not completely ready to be done with it, but it is a nice compromise. I thought my 9 year old son was going to die the first 2 weeks. By Thanksgiving it was on his "What I'm thankful for" list. Hang in there, you might be surprised!

Nikki B. said...

kimmy - some say it takes guts...some say it takes stupidity. we shall see!

robin - netflix will be our saving grace.

scott - tracy and i have a plan...

anon - can i call you anon? i kinda have to, 'cause you didn't leave me a name!! thanks so much for the comment. i'm glad you did...maybe there is hope. maybe the kids will adjust! nah, i know they will. it'll take time. i'm more worried about jake!!

Kameron said...

My hubby suggested this the other night. He also said no internet, and that is when I put my foot down. I would go for cancelling cable, but not my internet addiction!

Katrina said...

I wish I could get my hubby to agree! About two years ago I declared a no tv week! We went outside, we played games, we talked and listened to old CDs together...it was a great week! But then the tv came back on and we plopped down back to the couch potatoe life!!

Rassles said...

Cable is really pointless as long as you have internet anyway.

Like you said, now your kids can do things that are unrelated to television. Good move, I think. You got guts.