I Pulled the Plug. I Hope We Survive the Loss!

Our family of five has five TVs, a laptop and a desktop computer, all being used on a daily basis for five to six hours each day. Our communication bill is $200 a month, for telephone, high-speed Internet and digital cable TV. Our world seems to revolve around technology. Well, that’s going to stop for this summer. I’m pulling the plug. The best part: we will save $800. How is that for a reason?

Two months ago, while complaining about the high communication bill, I jokingly told my husband that I was going to turn off the cable, Internet and telephone for the summer months. He said go ahead, but I don’t think he actually thought I’d go through with it.

I told the kids to start taping their favorite shows, I’m turning off the cable. I thought my 12-year-old, Christopher, was going to have a stroke. He started to cry. It was in that moment that I knew it had to happen. To cry over the TV being turned off, oh my. He has to know there is more to life then TV. When we were kids, there were only a couple of shows on TV that we wanted to watch. The rest of the time we were outside, not sitting on the couch.

My 9-year-old, Molly, was unphased. She would rather work on crafts in her room, than watch TV. The 5-year-old in the house, Mathew, doesn’t quite get it. So I think out of all of us, they will both be fine.

The oldest has been working over time trying to delay the inevitable. He has been coming up with all sorts of reasons why our family can’t be without its technology. Of course I’ve gotten: 'we’ll miss this and that show, our Webkinz are going to die.'

"How are you going to write for Patch," my smarty pants says, thinking he won. I just smiled and replied "sorry, still going off."

Now me, on the other hand, how am I going to make it? Well, I’m cheating a bit. I’ve got a Blackberry which has Internet and Facebook access. I’ve also got a laptop, so I plan to take it mobile and check out the free wireless places around town. My oldest has already begged me to take him with me. I plan to use that to my advantage.

So "D" day is finally here. The fall programs have ended and it’s time. I’ve been warning the kids every day, getting them ready. They filled 10 blank VHS tapes with their programs in preparation for this day.

I called and cancelled. They tried to get me to sign onto a lower rate in order to keep my phone number and to keep the internet. The lower rate was still $70. Thanks, but "No," turn it off.

It was sad to see the phone number go. It was my parents' number, then mine for 25-plus years. It wasn’t worth the money to keep it. But then again, the money is not the only reason why we are doing this. Our family has a lesson to learn.

"D Day"

The boys were just getting ready to play Wii. Mathew was setting it up while Christopher was finishing up in the bathroom, when I dropped the bomb. "You might want to watch cable for a little while since it’s going off any minute now." The door to the bathroom flew open and Christopher came running out still pulling up his pants, screaming "WHAT!"

I called the hubby on my way out for the evening. He was shocked. I don’t think he ever thought I was going to do it. I couldn’t believe his reaction, "But 'Rescue Me' is coming on." To which I replied, do you really want to spend $800 to watch one show. Being a nice wife, I gave him hope. My mother said she would tape a couple of shows for us. I got a very somber "ok."

Lucky me, I wasn’t home for the night to deal with the crashing of the world. So when I came home I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone made it through the night. The real shocker was the laundry was folded, the dishes were done and the house looked pretty good. When I asked how the night went, my hubby said it was ok. The chores were all done, because he had nothing to do. Unfortunately, he was not happy with me though, because the Bruins were playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. He had to listen to it on the radio. Apparently it wasn’t the same. As for Christopher, he had gone through two of his 10 tapes. LOL!

So we survived day 1. How long do you think we can go without? Could your family do it? Check back with Patch to see if we make it through our first month!