TV Junkie

Brad and I have created a monster!

About two weeks ago, we turned the TV on one morning so Sammy could watch Sesame Street for awhile so we could finish some things. Now up to this point we really didn't let her watch a lot of TV. Sometimes the news would be on in the background while she was playing or we'd watch Survivor together until her bedtime. I would occasionally put in her Baby Einstein video, but I would sit and watch it with her and talk with her about what she was seeing and hearing. I NEVER wanted to be one of THOSE parents who used the TV as a babysitter...

Well, she enjoyed it so much that she watched almost all of it and then asked for more. Because it was a very crazy week and I had a lot to do, I put in her video and continued my chores. I couldn't believe how much I got done in that short hour and a half! Before we knew it, we'd turn Sesame Street on at 9:00 most mornings so Brad and I could eat breakfast together and spend a little time together before he headed off to work at 9:45.

Now fast forward a week. Brad and I rented a video one night and found out that we could also check out 3 additional children’s videos for FREE. Well, the one Baby Einstein video was getting pretty boring, so I grabbed 3 videos for Sammy. Before I knew it, Sammy was turning both the TV and VCR on every morning after breakfast and asking for a video EVERY DAY. Brad and I looked at each other and realized that in a few days, we had created a TV JUNKIE!

So we’ve gone cold turkey and stopped letting Sammy watch videos or Sesame Street for a few days. Her whining and pouting has increased dramatically, but I know it’s our own fault. Now, after 3 days, she doesn’t even go for the TV or VCR. But of course, I’m on the floor playing with her more and putting my housework on hold.

It’s funny. As I watched Sammy pout yesterday, I realized that God was also shaking His head at me and lovingly say “No” …just like I did with Sammy.

One Saturday, Brad and I test drove a Toyota minivan and a Honda Odyssey. Now two months ago, we had decided that we would wait to buy a minivan until our Honda Civic or Accord died. (They both have between 100,000 and 145,000 miles on them, but are still in really good condition.) We were both content with that. It would be tight on long trips with two kids, but we thought we could make it work. Then last week we started looking at our savings and playing around with some numbers and decided that we could look at minivans and if the right one came along, then we’d consider it. And when I test drove that Odyssey (knowing that we just wanted to get a feel for it and were not really interested in purchasing THAT PARTICULAR ONE), I was blown away by its handling on the road and all the features. I REALLY wanted a minivan…and even though it was several thousand outside our price range, I really wanted THAT minivan.

I spend the rest of the weekend thinking about a minivan and how badly I wanted one right now! And after looking at our finances again and seeing how much we could get for our Accord, we realized we actually had less to spend than we thought. Now I was really upset.

I had caught the materialism bug and started pouting about not getting my own way.

It took me awhile to really lay it at God’s feet, and after Brad and I prayed about it, I am more content with just how things are. There is an older Odyssey with more miles on it for sale that we may go look at, but we’re not holding our breath. If it fits into within our budget, then great. If not, our Accord will do just fine.

We, as humans, often create trouble for ourselves…more than we think. We call it bad luck or blame it on someone else. But our decisions and desires motivate us to be like the world…with its materialism and self-centeredness. Just this week we studied Romans 12:1-2 in BSF. It’s hard to not be influenced by the world, but it is reasonable for us to not conform to the pattern of this world and to offer ourselves as living sacrifices because of what God has done for us. It is not easy sometimes, but it is reasonable for God to ask this of us. Our desire to obey God should overflow from every pore in our bodies because of His mercy and what He has already done in our lives.

So even though it’s been a tough lesson to learn, I really don’t want Sammy OR MYSELF to have too much media influence…because the more I listen to the world, the more I take my focus off God and His many blessings in my life.