Project: Life Change: This season "Project: Runway" will have one less viewer

Jessica and I are still rounding up all the fabulous and inspiring  Project: Life Change posts that we can find across the blogosphere, but while we hover over our Google document, I wanted to share another change we are making to the CityMama household. Do-able change is what Project: Life Change is all about, so...

We killed our cable.

I know.

Oh, trust me. I know.

I don't know about you guys, but the next PLC thing we tackle in this house is sharing the accounting duties more effectively.  You'd think we'd have figured it out after 13 years of marriage, but neither of us likes to do it. We both hate automatic bill pay so don't even go there, so we usually pay the bills when we get a phone call or friendly reminder letter that it needs to be paid or when I go, "Here, this came, pay it."

When the cable turned off last week (I know. We're lame.) J. turned to me and said, "What if we just get rid of it?"

And I gasped.

When we first started living together, we didn't have TV. We actually DID things like went to concerts and plays or for walks or played board games. We went to movies since we lived within walking distance to two great old art house theaters. We worked out together. We lived across the street from a book store and coffee shop.  We were enriching our lives on a daily basis.

That's uh a lot harder to do when you have kids.  The same old refrain...

We tested it out this weekend. No cable.

So what did we do?

• We read books. Lots of books. Both individually and to our childen.
• J. cleaned out and organized the garage and put all the summer patio furniture away for the winter.
• J. baked me a birthday cake. I swear he did it because there was nothing else to do.
• I made soup and Korean beef stew (enough of both to freeze for lots of future meals.)
• We took the girls to a Fall Festival and went to the park.

We both agree that sitting on the couch with our laptops in front of the TV night after night has really taken a toll on our lives in many ways.  We want to end that.

We're going to take the money that we'd normally spend on cable and pay-per-view movies (which is a lot even with the package deal) and join our local Y so we can swim and have some active family fun this winter.

We reminded each other that we love to watch TV shows when they come out on DVD because then we can watch 5 episodes in a day if we want. We also reminded ourselves that a lot of our favorite shows are available online, and if Mad Men's second season is also available episode-by-episode on iTunes like season one was, I will be a very happy camper. It's the show that—if I had to pick—I really love the most.

So here we are, four days into this experiment. I have to admit that tonight I'm pretty antsy and since my neck is still not feeling 100% I just want to kick it and watch something stoopid on TV.

But then I think about last night, and how Chef Sister, J., and I played a bunch of board games and how the evening flew by and how much fun we had, I think I might be able to give up cable.

Again.

We'll see.

Comments

[Lia]

Wow, good for you. I don't think I could do it. You can come hang in front of my TV whenever you want!

[Hollyhocks in the desert]

congrats and welcome to my world. We turned ours off the same way...during NFL playoffs and chemo in the works. I am a sucker for breaking news so this week is extra hard for me, but all in all, it was a great choice.
It has been almost two years and well worth it. now, if I could just get rid of the computer. :)

[patti]

I...I'm not even sure I understand this post. I mean, I recognize all the words you used, but in the order you used them, they just don't make sense.

(but seriously, our Tivo hard drive is jacked and watching anything is such a hardship that I haven't, much, lately, and neither have the kids. It's not so bad).

[Hollyhocks in the desert]

congrats and welcome to my world. We turned ours off the same way...during NFL playoffs and chemo in the works. I am a sucker for breaking news so this week is extra hard for me, but all in all, it was a great choice.
It has been almost two years and well worth it. now, if I could just get rid of the computer. :)

[BadKitty]

Yay for you guys! That's awesome. I love card games, too. You're going to have so much fun. The girls will have the best memories of growing up. Of course, people will ask them if they grew up overseas when they don't know the latest happenings on the OC, but somehow I think that's a good thing...

Just promise to keep the email and IM!

[GraceD]

Woman, you are tough. I would not be able to survive without Curb Your Enthusiasm and other HBO delights.

You're a stronger bitch than I, CM. So, of course, I bow down.

xoxo

[JB/Go-Go Mommy]

Curiously, my hubby and I had no cable when we moved here 7 years ago - and we lived! Then we got sucked in to a 46" TV (as if we need it in our bay-area-sized-home) during NFL playoffs 3 years ago. Of course it was HD ready so we HAD to get a package that included the HD channels and THEN we NEEDED to add on the DVR capability...

I'm glad you found a place where the cable ends and family begins!

PS - I wish I could go back but I've already got my DVR set for the new Project Runway season! I know, I s__k.

PPS - By the way, my 3.5 year old will say "Can you pause this?" when she has to run to the bathroom in the middle of her KQED morning show "Read Between the Lions" - is that a bad sign?

[lizzielou]

this is so inspiring -- we've been wrestling with this issue lately, since we actually can't afford the huge cable package/dvr we're currently addicted to. but, but, but...! i just don't know if i can do it!

[Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass)]

We haven't had cable in eight years and still find some way to be reality show junkies. This is a good thing. And I am so proud of you.

[maddy]

It is great that ditching the cable has brought you more time for other things.

I don't think we can do it, though! LOVE the tivo/satellite that we have. But it's true that watching things on dvd and/or i-tunes will make you be more selective about what you do watch.

[Adventures In Babywearing]

Oh, I can't tell you timely this is. For one, we got a friendly reminder call from our ELECTRIC company the other day (so glad we are not the only household where no one remembers to pay the bills!) and we were just contemplating the cable thing. But how WILL you watch Project Runway? Can you watch it online? I just need to know. You're inspiring.

Steph

[PunditMom]

You are a brave, brave woman, especially with Project Runway almost upon us. But I have to say something like this has been on my mind, too. I'm a bit unhappy with the state of my relationship with Mr. PunditMom and I've been feeling that sitting in front of the news (even if it IS Keith Olbermann) every nite is taking its toll.

[christina]

Hey, that's awesome. We've been cable-less forever. It started out because we just simply couldn't afford the luxury on a two artists' income. We got it for a bit in NY because we lost the signal when the towers fell (yes, yes) and didn't have anything after that. But since we've moved back to the left coast we just rely on "regular" stations. As it goes, once the kid arrived we stopped watching when she's awake. Now after she sleeps we're too tired to surf regular channels and too tired to even watch our Netflix. We find ourselves reading blogs, reading books, magazines, and actually talking to each other about our interesting reads. We are considering getting rid of the TV altogether...but I'm not there yet.

[foodiemama]

cable? tv? we have a tv but no cable, it became pretty useless when littlefoodie was born. i didn't want him to get hooked and oooh and ahhd'd on commercials for one and for 2 i have yet to find time after 3 yrs of mommyhood to sit and watch anything. i am clueless as to whats out there so usually when in the mood i'll netflix something...i think its a very notable thing to do since most people have their tvs on all day long without thinking...good for you guys!

[foodiemama]

cable? tv? we have a tv but no cable, it became pretty useless when littlefoodie was born. i didn't want him to get hooked and oooh and ahhd'd on commercials for one and for 2 i have yet to find time after 3 yrs of mommyhood to sit and watch anything. i am clueless as to whats out there so usually when in the mood i'll netflix something...i think its a very notable thing to do since most people have their tvs on all day long without thinking...good for you guys!

[Momish]

Brave and admirable. We only have basic cable and hardly watch any of the 99 channels offered. I think we could live without too, but my husband? Gotta have his poker and surviver man.

Before I met him, I didn't have cable and managed just fine. It's definitely worth addressing again and again until it goes away.

Bravo for you!

[Leslie]

We did this when our kids were younger and it lasted a while...I think until some playoff game that my husband had to see.

I took out all my old records (yes, LP's) from childhood (like Beatrix Potter read by Vivian Leigh) and had my kids listen to the stories. The board games, the time together -- it was more focused. It's a great idea! Enjoy.

[crazedparent]

Congrats! I swear the third and fourth weeks were the toughest, but stick it out. We're into our fifth tv-free year. Movies on the laptop/projector every once and a while, but otherwise that's it.

Although when I stay in hotels, I can't pull myself away from bad TV:)

[dgm]

Congratulations. Your life will be much richer for it. We pay for cable, but only watch it when 1) disasters happen, like now with the socal fires, and we need to know what's going on. Truthfully, I'm getitng better info from the internets, however. 2) Kids get to watch Saturday a.m. cartoons. And that's pretty much it. Since that is the kids' only regular tv time (nada during the week, mostly nada on sundays unless a friend slept over the night before), they feel soooo privileged to get that little bit. Both kids are great at finding things to amuse them, and both love to read.

Hubby and I get tv shows we are interested in watching thru netflix, and treat each ep like a movie on Friday nights. I think it helps the kids to see that we don't spend much time in front of the tube either, so it becomes a (nice) way of life for the family.

Good luck with your experiment!

[kat]

WOW. that's huge! i would seriously miss tv and my tivo but with so many shows being online (have you checked out sidereel.com) it makes perfect sense to me sans cable. i could never do it. but go you!

[dawn]

excellent :) when we moved we decided to get the small cable package instead of the supah deeluxe and just see if we missed anything...

we don't. we dvr what we watch, and honestly could buy the dvd sets for less than we pay for cable I bet..

something for me to think about..

[Kim]

When we first bought our house, we couldn't afford cable or dish. We could only get one viewable channel with rabbit ears. Then our TV died, probably from not being used. We went without for over a year (almost 2) with absolutely no TV or movies. When I was finally about 6 months pregnant, I begged for it and we got it back. Now, TV is all consuming in our house. Regretably, my 2 yr old daughter begs for it. We've talked about getting rid of the cable ourselves but have yet to do it. Way to go!

[honglien123]

If it weren't for the fact that I have a vague suspicion my 2 year old will just spend the extra time jumping on my back, I'd totally get rid of our TV. To hell with it, it actually feels pretty good when he does that.

Good for you for doing what I've been wanting to do for quite some time. I forwarded the link for this to the hubs, we'll see how it goes.

[kelli]

We moved 2+ years ago and just didn't hook up the cable. We don't get reception, so we don't have anything but DVDs at this point.

In reality, I don't know when we'd fit TV into our day, though I used to watch the Replay all the time. Maybe someday we'll start watching the DVD sets, but nothing is all that compelling at this point. (And the kids don't know the difference.)

[Mama Luxe]

I've spent most of my adult life with little or no cable:

There was the time after 9/11 when we were in Manhattan and only had one channel (Fox) coming in fuzzy...and given the circumstance, it just did not seem like a huge deal at all.

When my husband entered the military, I saved money by not getting cable (and I was able to get my Buffy fix on network TV...that and fox's cartoon line-up was pretty much all I watched).

We had basic cable in Texas because it was the only way to get any channels at all.

Now we are back to just network TV again.

I do like Project Runway and Meerkat Manor, though..

I actually don't watch much TV so it wouldn't be a life-changing experience for me.

Ditching the high speed internet on the other hand...

That would be tough--but would probably make me a better person.

I should probably unplug it when I'm not actually using it, because I do need it for work.