Going Against the Tide

Killer wave, BTW.

The other day N’s coach CH came by to look at the barn and take some measurements. He installs heat pump systems for a living, so it was a good chance to see what sort of system would work best for us and what the related costs might be.

He came by right after their game, so his son C came with him. He and N rode in his car and he followed me home. While I was with CH, N and C hung out and entertained themselves, but I noticed that C got bored fairly quickly. They rode bikes and scooters, but not for long, and then headed inside. N gave him a tour of the house, they probably played with his assorted mechanical toys, but at some point, C wanted to do one of two things: either watch TV, or play video games, neither of which we have.

This, of course, brought up the parental anxiety that we have concerning having friends over. We don’t have TV or video games, and they are so ingrained in our culture that we seem to constantly be going against the tide on this one. I’m a firm believer against both of them, much to the chagrin of our kids. They can watch all the TV they want when they get older, but I don’t want to encourage it, and for that matter, succumb to it.

The problem is that almost all of our friends watch TV, and lots of it. That and play video games. I had read that the average American watches 6 hours of TV a day, which boggles my mind. That is a lot of time when you factor in being at work or school. It’s as if the TV were on constantly whenever people are at home, and I think that’s the case.

Don’t even get me started on video games, though that’s part of the reason they like going to their friend’s houses, they get to play them.

So N’s friend was bored, and couldn’t even fathom the fact that we don’t have a TV. N seemed to roll with it, he’s good that way, but I felt self-conscious. It’s what makes having friends over difficult, I’m never sure how they’re going to respond to our lifestyle. We are lucky in that many of their friends have similar values, and a fair number of A&N’s friends don’t watch TV, either. They are all connected in some way to the digital age, but most of them (maybe just the ones we choose to hang with) don’t watch a lot of TV. I feel fortunate for that.

Oh well, nobody said being a parent was easy. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to tim phillips photos for the pic.