BYE BYE TV **KIND OF**

Over the course of the summer I noticed something a little disturbing. My children and their reliance on the television.
Granted my daughter broke her arm on New Years Day and also has grommets recently put in a lot of our regular summer activities were put to a stop. So I will admit I became incredibly lenient with my allowance of screen time.

A most usual sight in our home

Not sure what triggered me but it could have been an awakening or I was just so incredibly bored, I removed the TV from the living area.
Now I did not do this hastily or as an act of discipline. I spoke to my husband who was unsure of my idea as it involved me also removing 3 large pieces of furniture from the area so I could create a family play room.
The first step was to clear up the area, next move the TV out of the way. I photographed furniture and listed it on Buy and Sell pages. My husband got nervous at this point "what if you want to use that furniture?"
I pointed to the dining table with junk on top of it and 2 storage boxes that are empty. these were the contents of one of the shelving units. A large shelving unit was holding very little and I was able to find a new home for these items, a very important thing to take into account if you plan to get rid of furniture.
Which brought me to the next painful step. Sorting through the clutter (groan). Although painful it is important, figuring out what I want to keep, what I need/want and what can be let go of.

About to sort through the crap. Let me have a cry first.

I shifted the couches in the room so they face each other and placed a new shelf under the window. So the intention of this space is to not only give my kids a place to play but all of us as a family. A place to sit and read, play games and just hang out.
Immediately as the space began to come together the kids wanted to get in there. Of course I made them stay away while I worked my magic and enjoyed the experience. While our son napped my parents took our daughter out for a while and that helped move things along a bit.
As apprehensive as my husband was at the beginning,during a coffee break we sat on the couches in the space and he said straight away how he likes the feel of the space. It felt lighter. Yes I removed big items but not having the TV in the room that we consider the hub of our home has changed the overall vibe.

Couches rearranged, new shelf in place, vacuum cleaner showing off by being front and centre.

Whats on the shelves? Each child has a top and bottom section. 2 cubbies are for books, the shelves were crammed with books before so I have reduced them to a select amount and the rest are on another book shelf out of the way and can be rotated from time to time.
the next cubby has a basket for games or toys, at the moment my son has shown an interest in jigsaw puzzles and so I bought them both a new pack of puzzles at Kmart and put them in the baskets. Last Cubby is for games. I am excited to start adding to our games and have a fun collection for us to enjoy as a family. Currently we have Uno, Trouble, Uno Stacko, and Sorts. I am on the look out for games my 3 year old can play. Hungry Hungry Hippos sounds like a good one. up until recently we had mine from the late 80s but it was too delicate to play a spirited game!
On top of the shelves is a Logitech iPod dock that we have an old phone in connected to Spotify. Our daughter loves music and is our resident DJ. When the TV was in the area the music and TV would be competing with each other, or she would disappear to her room to listen to her music. Now we can enjoy it together. I can play my terrible taste in music, Hubby can "educate" our children and our kids can play "can't stop the feeling" by Justin Timberlake over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Simple, although plenty of engaging activities

So I haven't made over the room styling wise but we do plan to paint and replace the carpet in that space and either cover or change the couches. Our house is in need of a full reno but that is not on the cards so a little spruce here and there is all we can do right now.
At the moment FUNCTION is more important than style. We need to be certain of the way we have the space will work for us, so far our attitude towards it is really positive and we are on the same page as parents on this one. Down the track I will start to make it look nicer but function first. 
So where did the TV go????

That's me bottom left,Hi! 

I has actually gone to our bedroom. I know it seems to not be the best place but we want to give it a go and so far I LOVE IT! The way I see it is we have removed the TV from our regular living space and replaced it with engaging activities that can be done solo, in pairs or a group. Activities that promote play and curiosity and teamwork.
It is in the part of the home where I cook, fold washing and do several different tasks that I mindfully engage myself in ( at least I'd like to think so).
Watching TV has been reallocated from an everyday mindless activity, to something a bit more special. TV has not been restricted but merely taken away from the forefront, out of sight out of mind. My son and I enjoyed a short stint of Thomas and Friends the other morning, 20 mins snuggled together in bed before breakfast. I can't wait to do it again!

So how did our kids react that first morning without their beloved box of characters?
Our 3 year old son was a bit teary it is safe to say but once we had that 20 minutes snuggling in the bed watching Thomas he was ok and ready to have some breakfast at the table (not on the couch in front of the TV). As I mentioned earlier he is getting into puzzles and that is what he decided he wanted to do. I will tell you it was kind of relaxing sipping my morning coffee and helping him with his puzzle. Our 7 year old daughter was overall alright with the change and happy she could still have control of the music, on went her fave playlist and out came her dolls.

Morning Puzzles

What have I noticed so far?
A deeper sense of play that the children are able to carry themselves and develop without their attention waning.
Both are more willing to play with one another and are arguing a little bit less.
My daughter has mentioned how good their team work is about a thousand times.
Kids are not asking to watch TV, they are too busy. Winning!
While we have had guests (so far our parents) the TV is not on while our zombie like children stare into it, they are either somewhere playing or like the picture below playing around us, not being noisy but working beautifully together that several times we stopped our conversation to watch them play and talk to them. 

Playing and working so well together!

What will I miss?
Our daughter waking up and putting the TV on to watch a while so we can have sneaky sleep in until she bellows that she is hungry and must be served food immediately. I'll have a think on how we can still get the odd sleep in while our kids are occupied and get back to you there!

So while I am not banning TV I am removing it from the forefront of our lives. I love having it in our room as we have a chrome cast I can now watch you tube on the TV and also Netflix of course.
The morning snuggles on the weekend I think will be a fave of mine especially in the winter. 
 I remember growing up my parents had a TV in their room and we had 1 family TV. On a Saturday night I was allowed to stay up and watch "Hey Hey It's Saturday" and "Unsolved Mysteries" in their room while they watched "The Bill" and I always looked forward to it.
Some nights I would stay with my parents and to my Mum's delight get out the water spray, her hair mousse and accessories and be her hairdresser for the evening. I remember a  time when I was growing up and TV was a time to enjoy with the family or a treat that you got to stay up and watch your fave show. but I did it after a day of good solid play and that is what I want for my kids. 

Anyway so far so good, please if you have any questions on the post leave a comment or head to my Instagram account @findingfiforme

I'd love to know your thoughts or if you have done something similar or would like to try it in your household!