First off before I get to what I have learned, I wanted to direct you over to my friends blog. Her name is Rebecca Cooper of Simple as that. She has such a neat blog. This week she posted a whole bunch of summer fun ideas. Click on the picture below to take you there; you just might even see a little feature there about our Alphabet Summer.
On to what I have learned.
Well okay first an apology.
I have been slow with this post, and I must make it known that our summer has been a little busy. Please forgive my untimely nature, but I will make NO promises that it will get better.
I am hoping that once school starts that life will slow down. I am however just getting in to the HEAT of the summer. 4 birthdays, a baptism, 2 sets of company, well-child checks, dentist appt., back to school, a new church calling, and one small big thing; a mother of four and wife to a busy resident.
So there you have it, now neither of us will have any expectations.
Now, on to what I have learned.
Just because someone else is doing it doesn’t mean that you have to do it too.
Remember when our Mothers would say, “If so and so jumped off a cliff would you do it too?”
Well, I am here to say that being a little unique and out of the ordinary is a good thing.
I enjoy being a little intriguing and eccentric.
Case in point:
I received a phone call a few months back from AT& T. It went a little something like this.
“Hi, this is so and so from AT& T. We would like to talk to you about adding a new service to your plan. It is called Uverse.”
“Yes, I have heard of it”, I said.
“Would you like to upgrade to it?”
“No, Actually I was going to call you today and cancel our cable.”
“But, Maam everyone in your neighborhood has upgraded to Uverse, and if you cancel your cable how will you watch the news?”
“We are going to just use an antenna.” I replied.
“But, you won’t be able to record your favorite shows.”
“That is okay, we need to save some money and it is time to cut out the cable.” I smirked.
“But everyone has cable, how will you keep up?”
“Sigh”….
…and it went on and on.
Needless to say, I turned off the cable.
I realized that just because the whole world is doing it, it doesn’t mean that it is the best thing for our family.
We don’t have to get a Wii just because everyone has one.(I am not saying that we never will, I am just saying we don’t have too)
We don’t have to take a summer vacation because that is what everyone does in the summer.
I don’t have to give my kids everything they ask for just because their friends have one.
Every teenager does not have to have a cell phone.
I am in control. We as adults are in charge.
We are the only ones who can make the best decisions for our family, and ultimately our children.
….Excuse me for a moment, my phone is ringing.
Okay, I am back. You will never guess who just called. It was AT& T wanting to sign me up for Uverse. ha ha I am laughing my head off.
Isn’t that Ironic.
Any hoo, back to my story.
After and even before we shut off the cable I thought that people might think we were crazy.
I wondered if I might go a little crazy.
Guess what people. It is the best decision we ever made.
We have so much more time for each other as a family.
I find time for my scriptures.
Instead of sitting on the couch vegging at night, I am usually running. Then after I get home, my husband goes for a run. Then we enjoy a nice evening together drinking a protein shake.
We have more time for games as a family.
We read more, and I have $70 extra dollars in my pocket each month.
My point: just because the world does something does not mean that you have to also.
Just because television is the norm for most homes does not mean that we all have to do it too.
What in your life could you stand to get rid of?
I am not saying that it is the best thing for you to get rid of your cable.
What I am saying is to take the time to think about what you have, or what you have bought that you really didn’t need. All in the name of someone telling you that you can’t live with out it.
When you find that something, let it go.
Who knows it might save you some money and in return give you some time.
What I have learned after two months without cable?
That just because someone tells me I need it, doesn’t mean I really do.
11 comments:
We have never had cable. I am actually very afraid of it for the very reasons you listed! Now I need to look for something else I can get rid of!
we keep talking about getting rid of our cable...maybe I'll let Jim read this blog entry :)I almost think I can do it, but I don't know if he can with football coming up LOL
My husband and I keep talking about getting rid of cable. That's all the further we've gotten though.
Glad you didn't let the guy talk you into keeping it. I didn't know adults use the "everyone else is doing it" reason to justify things. He may need to work on his sales/retention tactics!
Have a good weekend :o)
Mitch and I weren't wanting an apartment with cable when we first started looking into married housing. However, the internet IS a necessity here, and most complexes that have internet also have cable...they save by bundling, etc. So, now we have cable. We're enjoying it while it's included in our rent, but it'll be hard to ever pay for it separately!
So...have you figured out your "government black box" for the antenna yet? My parents haven't had much luck with theirs...hope yours works better! They still can't believe tv isn't free anymore!
we got rid of cable AND our actual TV a year ago and it was the best thing we ever did as well. Now I get antsy if we are at someone's house and they want to watch TV. It just seems like such a waste of time. And my living room looks great without that big ole thing in there!
When we canceled ours the man kept asking what we would do at night and would not take any of our answers! They are crazy!
oh no, some of those comments sounded like me when you were at home! Yikes! are you scared yet, you might be like your mother lol
AMEN!!!
We turn off our cable every summer and we love it. We have to turn it back on in the fall for BYU football, of course. We do a lot more reading and going to bed on time when we don't have cable.
We cut our cable about a year ago, too, best decision I ever made. I agree with you totally, and not just about the cable, it's liberating to eliminate unnecessary things from your life!
First of all no apology necessary. You post when you want to post, I'll enjoy reading it when it is up.
Do what is right for your family. Sometimes there are hard decisions to make that perhaps won't make the most sense to your children but if it's right in your heart that's all that matters! We've cut out a lot this summer so I could be home with our kids and managed just fine! Spending TIME is the most important!!
I really needed to read that today especially. I am feeling like an out of control mama since we got back from vacation. I loved reading that we are adults and in control. It is time for me to take back the control around here and get back to our summer routine - which includes very limited TV time and that has not been happening.
The rest of your summer stresses me out just thinking about it. Remember to breathe and call me when you forget! Love ya!
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