Canceling Cable

For the ten tumultuous months in which my family resided in Minnesota, there was a phenomenon that occurred in play group for which I was not prepared. (Okay, two if you count being pregnant with Lauren.) One day, at play group, one of the Mom's announced that she had canceled cable television for the summer. Her announcement was met with "Thanks for reminding me!" and "Oh, I did that last week." I was the only Mom whose jaw hit the ground in surprise, shock, and awe. I was so impressed. Not impressed enough to cancel mine, but impressed that these women were willing to spend entire summers with their children without Nick Jr. to help easy the relentless demands of quality time.

After almost three years, I had finally screwed up the courage to cancel our cable this summer. I had the summer planned without cable televsion. The kids were going to have to (gasp) play with their toys. I would force them outside to play in (horror) the sun, make up their own games, and to possibly roam the neighborhood with other packs of small children. On rainy days aforementioned children would have to entertain each other by inventing games or playing board games they already owned.

However, I forget the most essential piece of advice to make cancelling cable work: "Do not ask your husband. Just do it." I truly believed Rich would support this decision. I was wrong in my belief. What I discovered is that it is not TV my husband dislikes, it it the video games consoles connected to the television for which he has no use. While the kids and I are in our little Nintendo-colored world, he is plotting on ways to hide the Game Cube...permanently. And considering the one vice Rich has is sports, it seems pretty callous to not give him the option of watching whatever event was on once he arrived home from work.

Thus ended the non-glorious, non-awe inspiring, internal cable/no cable struggle of 2007 for me. Truthfully, I can't say I am disappointed cable is still available at the Tolbert house. Like anything, moderation is key. (Knowing I ultimately control the remote helps too.) Ironically, the kids now have a decent backyard where they can play and explore so the cable debate became a moot point.

But to those of you gals in Minnesota who cancelled cable, you go girls. You have my admiration.