Two years ago, our phones were ringing incessantly with sales calls from cable reps who would offer us anything to use their services.

“Hi, is this Ms. Emma?”

“Yes, this is her.”

“Hi, Ms. Emma, this is Dan with DirecTV. We have a fantastic rate to offer–“

“I’m sorry, we don’t watch TV in our family. We’re not interested in cable services.”

“Yeah, I understand, family time is very important. But let me just tell you about–“

“I’m sure it’s a great rate you’re offering, but we do not want cable in our home.”

“Good choice, ma’am. Now, this month we’re offering a promotion–“

It became ridiculous. Sales calls daily during dinner hours, while we were putting our son to bed, at 10 at night–finally, we stopped trying to be polite and end the conversation and instead we just hung up the phone. Neither of us had grown up with TV, but we had certainly spent time in homes where that’s all families did together. Dinner? In front of the TV. Bored? Watch TV. Family activity? Movie on TV. Tired? Relax in front of TV. We did not want that to be our family; we would much rather our kids play outside and our family eat dinner together at the table every night and spend time reading or playing cards during down time instead of binge watching Netflix.

Then, a year ago, we switched cell network providers and our new provider offered us a free iPhone if we signed a two year contract with DirecTV. Initially, we said no, but after crunching some numbers (not that it saved us a penny) we decided to go for it. Neither of us had ever had cable and they threw in the football package for free so we figured we would try it out and see what we thought.

Our first mistake, of course, was signing a two year contract. Yes, perhaps it got us a free phone, but two years is far, far longer than we needed to try TV out. When I repeatedly refer to TV throughout this post, I do mean cable. Our second mistake was, well, getting cable at all.

For the first few months, I maybe used cable twice. I had other things to do and I simply didn’t care to watch TV, plus when we did want a movie to watch we used Netflix; no need for cable at all. Then slowly, my toddler son started getting older and more restless. Daddy would leave for weeks or months at a time due to military training. I was so lonely and so worn out and so sick of the quiet. 

In the moments I just needed something from the outside world, I began turning on the TV for an hour or so. There were adults on the other end. Having intelligent conversations. I was learning from the Food Network and HGTV shows I watched and my son didn’t even look twice at the TV but the background noise definitely helped him feel less restless on days we were stuck at home.

Then, slowly, it started happening–just like so many other families we had witnessed with cable.

I would turn on the TV every time I was too tired to think. Any quiet became too quiet. Joanna Gaines and Alex Guarnaschelli and Ree Drummond were my friends during the long, lonely evenings at home. Little by little, my son started watching too, and any time the TV was off felt too strangely silent. We certainly weren’t always watching, but the TV was nearly perpetually on.

This lasted for a few months until I started thinking more and more about living intentionally. There was nothing intentional about the way we were watching TV–90% of the time it was literally just background noise so the house wasn’t so quiet. Especially when my son was napping I would leave the TV on so if I accidentally closed a door too hard or if my phone rang it wouldn’t wake him up.

Essentially, cable had become our distracting white noise machine.

One afternoon, I really wasn’t interested in the same shows droning on in the background, so I turned our TV off and turned on some worship music instead.

Friends, I cannot tell you how refreshed I felt by the end of the afternoon. The music filled my mind with truth instead of a TV show cluttering my brain with noise I wasn’t even paying attention to. I started noticing when and how I was watching and implementing limits–no TV until breakfast was cleaned up, no TV unless I was actually watching, no TV if my son was, for once, watching, and no TV just for the sake of background noise.

No TV unless it was intentional.

It turns out that although TV helped me feel less lonely if for nothing other than not having to deal with a quiet house, the constant background noise actually left me feeling more drained. I couldn’t work as efficiently with the distraction. When the TV is off and my son starts to get restless from the quiet, I have a lot more incentive to take him outside.

We still watch TV sometimes, but now we watch it with a purpose. During nap times when I’m up making noise, I turn on worship music to keep the noise constant and avoid waking my son up early. We don’t watch over-politicized or crude dramas–we literally watch the Food Network and once a week The Middle and Once Upon a Time are on ABC. That’s it; we watch one channel. Thankfully, my son has absolutely no interest in paying any attention to the TV. He also likes it on for the background noise and he dances to the upbeat music in the commercials but that’s the most he pays attention. If he turned into a zombie when the TV was on I would probably just be done altogether.

It really is a bummer we signed a two year contract, because there’s still another year until we can cut cable completely. However, once we get that chance, you better believe that we will take it. Every year we are literally spending over $1000 on something as unnecessary as cable which is basically not much more than a distraction. Yes, there are certainly shows we really enjoy, but we can find other ways to watch those shows without constant, endless access to 250+ channels of mostly junk. Let me be clear–I am absolutely not saying TV is inherently bad, and I certainly think it can be enjoyed well with self control–our family just doesn’t think it’s worth the money or the temptation. Entertainment is not the pinnacle of enjoyment.

Hey, we learned our lesson though. We’re breaking up with cable.

I still fully intend to learn how to poach eggs courtesy of Worst Cooks in America and I have tried many of Nancy Fuller’s delicious recipes, so there’s no denying watching the Food Network has made me a better cook. I can even use fancy French words like mise en place and I know to how to cook a steak like a boss. The end of the month in our house is like a never-ending episode of Chopped and we love it!

For the next year, we will continue to watch these shows–with self control. We will continue to enjoy Alton Brown’s exceptionally odd sense of humor and relish in Bobby Flay’s defeats–but with limits. TV is not bad.

There’s just so many better ways I can spend my time, like going on walks with my sweet boy and meeting mamas at the park and reading about French aromatherapy and taking naps. Worship music makes for far more fulfilling background noise.

We tried TV and we learned our lesson.

Now, when the sales rep calls, I know exactly what to say.

“Hi, is this Ms. Emma? This is Mike from DirecTV. Let me tell you about–“

“Hi, Mike, thanks for calling. We currently have cable now and we’ve noticed it sucks up our time and attention. Our family is far more important and while we appreciate your offer, we are no longer interested in cable. Ever. Thank you, enjoy your night, and goodbye.”

We’re usually met with confused silence and we hang up before they can thank us for our concern and present their promotion anyway.

Funny that don’t call us very often anymore.