No TV Week

I heard on the radio this morning that this is National No TV Week. The idea is simple: take your TV, your DVD player, your video iPod, your PlayStation, your laptop, and say goodbye to them all for seven days. Or at least encourage your children (and yourself) to get outside and enjoy the beautiful spring weather instead of laying on the couch.

I don't recall such a "holiday" when I was young, probably because one, we were always told to go outside and play, and two, I had lots of "no TV weeks" when I was grounded.

It wasn't like my twin sister and I were exceptionally naughty children (that I recall). We just got grounded a lot. Mom would say "No TV for a week!" Then it would be "No TV for 2 weeks!" It quickly escalated to "No TV for a month!"

We didn't know if our sentences were concurrent or consecutive. If they were consecutive, which was likely the intent, I think we would have been authorized to start watching TV again right after high school!

Of course, that doesn't mean we didn't watch it when we could. We'd get off the bus, watch TV until we saw Mom's car coming home from work. Then we'd quickly change the channel back to whatever it was on when we got home and shut it off.

We thought we were so sneaky. It didn't dawn on us until many years into our adulthood that all Mom had to do is touch the TV and feel the heat to know we were watching!

Duh. I should be grounded from TV for a week just being stupid ... not to mention sneaky!