"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;

Yes, the cable television has been turned back on.... 

  

Two years ago, we had our cable turned off.  At the time, Eli was almost 8, Maddie was 6.5, and Patience was 4.5.  We needed to cut back on our viewing, and it was a way to cut a few bucks from the budget at the same time. 

  

Granted, we lived upstairs from my parents at the time, so when football was on, we went down (and mom would usually feed us dinner, too--SCORE!).  If a special was on (Rudolf, anyone?), we went down. 

  

Then we moved, and the TV-train stopped.  We do subscribe to Netflix and borrow movies from the library, so we've been anything but TV-free for 2 years.  But there is a difference between parent-sanctioned movies and network TV (don't even get me started on the commercials, even on children's stations!). 

  

So, "Why," you're asking, "did you have the cable turned back on?".  Two words: FOOTBALL SEASON.  This isn't just my husband, for those of you shaking your heads at him.  I LOVE watching football.  So I'm pretty psyched. 

  

And concerned.  Will we fall back into the old patterns of watching way too much (she types as her kids watch George Shrinks on PBS, which they haven't seen in 2 years, but greeted like a long-lost friend....)?  The truth is, our patterns didn't change that much without cable.  The kids usually watched at least one movie per day, and Steve and I would more often than not, pop in a video once the kiddles were in bed.  I suppose we'll all just have more options now?  

  

Don't fret, I'm actually pretty strict about what my kids can watch.  What I am excited about, though, is that during 'the witching hour' (you know, 1/2 hour before dinner is ready & daddy is home, and the kids are bouncing off the walls), instead of allowing them to pop in a movie, which will last at least 90 minutes, I can allow them to watch a 30 minute show.  Who knows?  They may actually end up watching LESS television now. (Stop that hysterical laughing!!!)