Thursday, January 26, 2012

This is a warning.....from the emergency broadcasting system

I am constantly looking for ways to save the Truthful Husband some money.  He is a money stresser…stressor, whatever, he chronically stresses out about money.  Financially speaking, all situations are bleak in our world.  So, I like to find ways to ease the grip for him.  Of course, my love for shopping is not to be tampered with in any way.  I am already a frugal shopper as it is, I…will….not….let….it….go. Can’t do it. So, I recently suggested that we cancel our cable.  I read somewhere that it could save you something like $700 a year and that sounded worth it to me.  He didn’t jump nearly as high as I thought he would at my selfless suggestion.  The husband NEVER watches TV.  He works at work, plays with my kids, works at home, plays some more, eats, stays busy….never watches TV.  So I could not figure out for the life of me why he would not think this was the best idea I had ever had.  He did agree it sounded like a good idea and began researching it, finding options, seeing how we could watch television on antenna.  All that.  But he kept coming up with excuses like, “you won’t be able to watch Young and the Restless on HULU” or “you can’t record all of your shows and watch them at your convenience with these cheaper options.”  I think I will survive if I don’t see Victor marry his two time daughter-in-law and mother to his grandchildren ever again!!

Something that almost changed my mind was, “There will be no more Nick Jr or Disney.”  Oooooh, that is the very best babysitter that I have ever met and the only way to get anything accomplished during the day.  I always felt like it was a really inexpensive babysitter, but when I take into consideration that it was actually costing me $700 extra a year, I decided I was being duped.   So, I never waivered.  They can watch Sesame Street and the Electric Company on PBS just like I did growing up!

It became a game for me, I think.  Everyone, especially the Husband, assumed that I would be the one to crack when the rubber really hit the road on pulling the switch.  I watch A LOT of television.  I tape about 15 shows and actually watch them all.  It is my window into worlds I will never know, my escape from reality, my brainless time to myself.  The Husband wanted to be really, really sure that I was aware of what I was about to get myself into. 

Come to find out quite a bit of the hesitation from the Husband is that there is no ESPN.  AH HA!!  So, being the understanding wife that I am, I told him I was okay with whatever he decided to do.  But, I reminded him, do not blame me for the cable bill.  I was willing to go with the rabbit ears!!   He conferred with friends about his dilemma and they promised to let him come over to watch football anytime.  At the very least, our neighbors agreed to leave their blinds open so he could see their big screen TV through the window.  So, with all the options open to him for watching sports he made the call.  Don’t worry, we kept high speed internet so we can get ESPN3 on our computers.  I think he will survive. 

Two days ago when the devastation actually hit our home we were in the middle of Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  The screen went to black.  My son screeched….”WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SHOOOOOOOOOWS???”   My mom, who lives downstairs in a hip mother-in-law suite, comes barreling up the stairs at top speed, “WHAT JUST HAPPENED??  I THOUGHT THIS WAS BEING TURNED OFF TOMORROW”   My phone rings…..it is the husband calling me from work.  “Hey, they might turn the cable off tonight instead of tomorrow and I just wanted to warn you.”  WARN me???   The dictionary version of "to warn" equals to give notice of danger, impending evil, possible harm, or anything else unfavorable.  Really??  Is this where we have come?  That losing cable might just be worthy of a code-red-like warning??  I laugh, the grandma sulks and the son is devastated.  My daughter still has no concept of the fact that she cannot pause or rewind her shows.  What ever will she do?  The grandma is still desperately trying to find the next cable representative that can help her fix this horrible situation that her daughter and son-in-law have put her in. 

I, on the other hand, am enjoying the innocence of public, free television.  I caught myself laughing out loud at “Leave It To Beaver” last night.  I am pretty sure I learned some very valuable parenting lessons from Ward and June for when my boys are grown and ready to head out to pick up their lady for a date. I have gotten more done since the crisis event than I have in a long time.  My little guys are fixed on Elmo and learning their ABC’s and 123’s from the puppets that I grew up loving.  Number 2 can hardly wait to get home from preschool to see what is on.  The kids know now that they can’t watch just anything at their beck and call.  It is now a new adventure waiting for them behind the screen.  It has been used as a great incentive to get their chores done, their teeth brushed, their lunch eaten more quickly so that they will not miss too much of their newly-beloved PBS shows. 

No more on-demand-Victor and his old shriveled up lips hiding under the ‘stach.  No more Disney Channel that must be turned off promptly at 10am or else my kids may learn things they could just as easily learn from Victor Newman and the team on any soap opera.  I am happy with free television.  We have not imploded.  We are still here and I think we may just be better off.  

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