Planning to Unplug

I have a couple of parenting confessions:

Before I had children, I just knew I would never use the television as a babysitter.

Now that I have children, I use the television as a babysitter a little too often.  Am I alone?

I don't want to mislead you to think that all we do is sit around and watch shows.  That certainly isn't the case.  However, I do think I rely on the television a little bit too much.  It's easy.  That's why something caught my eye recently.

As I read through different parenting magazines and websites, I discovered that next week, April 19-25, is supposed to be National Turn Off Your TV Week.  After a little more research, I found this website.  (According the site's blog, the organization had to stop operations due to the economic slowdown.)

Reading through that site got me thinking.  What would happen if I turned off our television for a week?  Is it possible we'd develop new habits?  Instead of letting my children watch a video while I make dinner, perhaps I'd encourage them to play with Play-doh.  Better yet, maybe I'd invite them to cook with me.

So, whether it's official or not, I've decided to take the plunge.  As of Monday morning, there will be no Dora, Diego, Curious George, or gasp, Scooby-Doo.  I'll find out if a week is long enough to change our habits for the better.

Have you ever limited or eliminated your family's media usage for a period of time?  I'd love to hear what you did and how your family responded.

One last thing...I'm not making any promises to actually unplug from Tuesday night's LOST episode.  I don't want to get too crazy around here.