Lessons on Not replacing the television

So, last fall our television turned on for the last time. It was a Christmas gift from 2000, so in TV years, it was like 100 years old. It was bulky. It wasn't HD compatible. It wasn't exceptionally wide. But for 10 years we kept it in our living room, with our couches and chairs carefully positioned for maximum viewing possibilities.

Then it was over. And of course, I was instantly reminded of my years-old promise to my husband that when it died, we could go out and buy the huge flat-screen he had wanted. Ugh! What was a girl to do?

Well, thankfully, the man had changed, and when I glanced over at him with my big brown eyes and told him I didn't want to replace it, he smiled and said, "I don't care if or when we replace it. I never watch it anymore anyway."

But, we also have a seven year old and a four year old to drop the no more TV bomb on. And again, surprisingly, they didn't care! In fact, they just ran outside and for the next month, rode their bikes through the eroding grass, built forts in the bushes, made a sink from a piece of PVC pipe and two buckets, attempted to grow pine trees from pine cones, jumped in leaf piles, and watched the sun go down from the branches of the trees.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, a free piano moved in, the TV cabinet moved into the kids' bedroom and found a new life as a toy cabinet, and the guitars came out of their dusty corners to sit front stage with new piano seated directly across from the couch. Instead of asking to turn on the TV, the kids ask if they can play piano, and instead of tuning out by tuning in, my craft cabinets are always open with projects dangling all over the place, my daughter and husband and learning to play the piano, and my son has learned how to use a fingernail brush to clean out the beautiful dirt from his daily romps in the yard!

It's the home I always hoped for, and a small price to pay to get it!