The Netflix Quandary

A couple years ago we got a new TV.  And Netflix.  It was so much fun at first.  We had a LOT of fun with it!  But then Netflix just would not let go of our family.  We go through periods of watching some TV and periods of watching no TV.  It just kind of depends.  But we got very hooked on Netflix. There were so many fun things to watch.  In fact, we have never had cable because of that very thing.  Too many choices.  Too much TV.  But Netflix was so cool!  And it was the cheapest form of entertainment we could come up with for the whole family.  Come on!  Only eight dollars a month for ten people??  You can't beat that!

For a long time, I noticed that we were watching too much TV, but it was so much fun that I didn't care.  I loved all the shows that the whole family watched together.  Eventually it got to the point where I was trying to get everybody to cut back.  I would say to wait until homework was finished before watching something but once one person started, we all got sucked in.  I tried to lay down rules.  But by that time it had been months and months of misuse and abuse.  No one was really listening to me.  Not even me.

Eventually, we decided that Netflix was taking up too much of our time and that even $8/month could used elsewhere.  So we cancelled our subscription.  It was difficult for the littlies to understand for the first week or two.  But eventually we settled back down into normal life.  No problem.  And really, it wasn't missed so much.

And then I got this recumbent bike.  And if you are going to be doing long workouts on a bike, you simply must have something to watch.  At least I do.  Reading wasn't going to work, nor was listening to music.  I thought of all the shows and movies I could watch and how much fun it would be if I had Netflix available for my workouts.

So we subscribed again.  Only this time, I laid down the law beforehand.  There would be NO Tv or Movies at all until Friday.   Wink stays home alone with me all day and she gets kind of bored.  She wants to watch TV.  But I only let her on Fridays.  It has made Friday something special again.  Before, when we were over consuming Netflix, Friday was just like every other day.  The kids come home from school and watch some shows. Then as evening draws, they choose a movie.

Only that's a little problematic, too, maybe.  Because now it ends up that even though our movie/TV watching is limited to Fridays, that pretty much means that every moment from waking until sleeping on Fridays is filled with the screen.

I can't decide if that's better or worse.  It's better because at least it's not happening every day and at least it's not interfering with homework or other activities.  It's worse because it basically means that when my children are allowed to, they will use all their time in front of a TV.

And then there are other small problems like the littlies are watching a movie on the TV, the teens are watching a movie on the computer.  The Hubba and I would like to watch something together but you can only have two devices streaming at once.  So either we have to kick several children off or we are out of luck.