Comments (23)

By Mom Unplugged, April 18, 2009 8:50 pm

April 20th through the 26th is Turnoff Week (formerly TV Turnoff Week, but now it applies to all “screens”). As I mentioned previously, I will once again be hosting a Blog Challenge for those who dare to give the no screen (or reduced screen) thing a try for a week. A few intrepid souls have already expressed an interest in giving it a try. Thank you!

I am very late in posting the instructions. Usually I start a few weeks ahead of time! However this year, I have been really busy with other, “real life” obligations.

Finally though - for those who have already indicated that they want to give it a go, and anyone else who wants to attempt it, here is how the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge will work:

Phase 1 -

1) Write a post about the challenge that sets forth your goals, reasons for joining in, etc. The more people we can reach and get to join in, the more fun and educational it will be! Remember, it is not just about giving up TV, what about the “other screens” in your life? The computer is my personal downfall so I will be concentrating on reducing that.

2) Link to your post in Mr. Linky below (leave a comment too in case Mr. Linky goes haywire, as occasionally happens, and I have to take him off).

3) Steal the Blog Challenge badge and put it in your sidebar, linking to Unplug Your Kids. Let me know if you need help with this step.

Two sizes:

Phase 2 -

Do your best to meet your goals from April 20-26. If you aren’t successful, it’s OK. What is important is to try, and to learn something from the experience.

Phase 3 -

1) After Turnoff Week ends (April 26th is the last day), write a post about how it went: the good, the bad, and the ugly! Sharing experiences helps everyone.

2) I will also write a “How it Went” post and I will put up a new Mr. Linky. Put the link to your “How it Went” post in the new Mr. Linky (plus comment just in case).

3) On Wednesday, May 6th I will draw a random name from among those who completed the challenge by putting up their final post (remember, whether you met your goals or not, completion just means blogging about it!). If you don’t put up your final post and enter it in the Linky before that date, then I can’t enter you in the contest. A random person will win a $10 Amazon gift certificate.

Finally, I have to apologize to a few of you who asked me questions that I have not answered yet. I have just been SO busy this past week, that I haven’t had a chance to think about the blog, or email, or anything much. I do appreciate your questions, and I will try and send you an email tomorrow (Sunday).

Here is the first Mr. Linky. Anyone who wants to enter the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week Blog Challenge should write a post about their intentions and link to it here. Even if you indicated in the comments to my last post about this that you wanted to join, please be sure to link to your goal-setting post here, to make it “official!”

Comments (11)

By Mom Unplugged, April 10, 2009 8:44 pm

I am finally posting about the 3rd Annual Turnoff Week blog challenge.

This year’s National Turnoff Week begins April 20th and runs through April 26th. I plan on hosting another Turnoff Week Blog Challenge for those who want to take the plunge and give the TV-free life a try!

Can you turn off your TV for one week? Can you turn off your computer for one week? Can you at least reduce your family and personal screen time for one week?

These are things to think about. The idea is not to feel guilt about doing it or not, “succeeding” or not, but simply to gain awareness of the amount of time that we all spend in front of screens these days.

Even without TV, I have my own “screen-issue.” The computer is my downfall. I will try to reduce my computer time that week.

Think about it. Discuss it with your family. Perhaps this would be a good time to try reducing your screen time if you have been considering it.

I’ll post more later about how to join in the Blog Challenge (as always, there will be a small bribe prize for a random participant!!), but I just wanted to plant the seed in your thoughts today.

So, is anyone interested in giving it a try?

Comments (7)

By Mom Unplugged, May 28, 2008 8:01 pm

It was with great interest that I read all the final posts of the 2nd Annual TV-Turnoff Week Blog Challenge participants: 28 final posts in all. There were really some remarkable similarities among the reports. It was quite fascinating to me!

Here is a summary of my general impressions from those final posts:

1) On Day One, there was often some rebellion from the children which seemed to settle down rapidly by Day Two.

2) The importance of weather: many participants had wonderful weather that week and they had positive experiences. For those who experienced rainy days, it was more challenging.

3) Also - weekdays seemed easier than weekends for most. For those who “fell off the wagon” during the Challenge, it was usually on a weekend.

4) A surprising number of people (nearly everyone??) saw noticeably better behavior from their children, even after just a few days.

5) In addition to positive behavioral changes, a number of people noticed their children playing more imaginatively and independently without the TV as an option.

6) Many reported that their children seemed to be in better moods and that there were fewer sibling squabbles taking place.

7) Most husbands were harder to unplug than the kids!

8) Apparently most of us who maintain blogs are computer addicts. Almost everyone said beforehand that they were more worried about unplugging themselves, than unplugging their children! It seems that staying off the computer was quite challenging for many, but I did note a few bits of wisdom that I would like to pass along:

- A few people said that they thought that their spending less time on the computer actually brought out better behavior in their children. Having more attention from Mom (or Dad…but I think this was mostly Moms who took part) seemed to settle the kids down.

- One Mom admitted that even if she was busy with other things and still not paying a whole lot of attention to her children, the fact that she was not on the computer gave her kids “an illusion of attention” that was beneficial. (Sorry I don’t remember exactly who said that, but it is a wonderful observation!)

- Another person said that they realized that even though it seems faster to look things up online, it really isn’t because once they sit down at the computer they get sucked into other things like checking email, etc. This blogger said that from now on she will try to pull out the phone book for a number rather than try to look it up quickly online. (Kayris - The Great Walls of Baltimore)

CONCLUSION:

The general feeling of most participants: the TV-free week made them realize how easy it is to just turn on the TV or pop in a video, without giving it much thought. It seems that the week taught most people the importance of mindfulness. It is not really a matter of turning it all off completely and forever, but to use TV mindfully, to be aware of when and why the TV is being used in the family.

++++++++++++++++++++

There you have it! My unscientific impressions of what I read in the participants’ final posts. If you want to read the posts yourself, you can find the links here.

Thanks again to all who bravely joined the 2nd Annual TV-Turnoff Blog Challenge!

Comments (1)

By Mom Unplugged, May 13, 2008 2:26 pm

In all the business of life, I have not yet gotten around to sharing the TV-Turnoff Week story of Mom of 2, a reader who participated in the TV-Turnoff Week Blog Challenge by email. Here is her wrap up (which she sent promptly on April 28th, sorry I am so late!):

+++++++++++++++

“We did really well through the week (though things kind of collapsed on Sunday), and it was surprisingly easy! My 4 year old got really excited by the idea that, as I told him, “lots of people are not watching TV this week.” and didn’t ask a single time to watch TV!

I put up a NO TV sign on the TV cabinet to remind us not to watch, which he loved because it started with N, just like his name. The only protest was a short tantrum one morning by my 2 year old when his brother started talking about the No TV sign and he perked up at the mention of TV and was mad that I wouldn’t turn it on.

Saturday morning the kids wanted to play a computer game, but when I said that part of the no TV week was also no computer, they moved on to other things. They spent the afternoon and evening at a birthday party, where I suspect at least one video was watched, though they only talked about the bounce house and all the presents the birthday boy received. That night, I came in from dinner with a friend to find my husband watching TV and pointed out it was still no TV week. He argued that it only applied to Monday - Friday.

Sunday morning I slept in and got up to find the kids parked in front of the TV. Hey, what happened to no TV week? I asked. It’s the weekend, it’s over my 4 year old said. Hmmm….where had I heard that before?

So after a week without TV, we’ve decided that we’ll keep it off in the mornings before daycare. It just makes it easier to get out of the house. We’ll also experiment with turning it off earlier in the evenings, as having more attention from mom & dad leading up to bedtime did seem to help the kids settle down to sleep more quickly.

I also realized what a constant presence it’s become on the weekends. I’ll have to plan more activities so we don’t turn it on just because there isn’t anything else planned.

Mom of 2″

++++++++++++

Mom of 2′s experience is quite similar to many of the other final posts that I read. I will definitely put up a summary post of my impressions of the participants’ experiences soon.

Thank you again to Mom of 2 for deciding to join us via email!

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, May 6, 2008 8:02 pm

I promised prizes to two random participants who completed the 2nd Annual TV Turn-Off Week Blog Challenge. The prizes are the following:

• A $10 Amazon Gift Certificate
• A complete CD set of the Adventures of Billy Brown children’s audio plays (thanks very much to Jens Hewerer of Giddio.com for offering this one!)

I threw the names of all the participants (who completed the challenge by writing and linking to their final post) into a bowl. My two oldest children each drew a name. The results?

Congratulations to:

Learning Umbrella who wins the Amazon Gift Certificate (please send me the email you would like to use to receive the certificate);

and to…

MatschMomma who wins the Billy Brown Audio Play Collection (please send me your name and address)!

Thank you all for joining in. I wish I had a prize for everyone!

Hopefully you are not completely sick of this by now, because I am planning one last post summarizing what I learned from your experiences.

Enjoy your evening!