I have always liked this scene in “Farmer Boy”. It is so simple and serene. A far cry from most family evenings now days. In today’s world there are so many things demanding our attention, so much noise and so many activities. We are so busy, but are we doing anything? Notice that in “Farmer Boy” everyone in the family is doing something, some kind of work, something of value.

Before I started to simplify my life I wasted a lot of time on meaningless forms of entertainment. I would spend all evening in a dark room wanting to be entertained by the television. It was meaningless and empty, and it left me meaningless and empty. I wasn’t spending my time building relationships, expanding my mind and building my character. What do I have to show for all the hours spent in front of that TV? Not one thing.

A year ago we canceled Direct TV, and where we live that is our only option for television, we don’t even pick up the local stations, and our lives have changed! Instead of hurrying the kids off to bed so we can watch our “shows” we now hurry the kids so we can all read together. Dadzoo and I talk, we read and work on other projects. In the summer we spend more time gardening and playing outside with our kids. I haven’t given up on TV all together, we still watch movies (something that we need to cut down on) but I think we have become more discerning. We netflix documentaries and good family movies. We are not continually bombarded with all the junk on TV so we aren’t as tolerant of junk in movies.

One thing I have found that I really enjoy in the winter time in crochet. I so enjoy sitting next to Dadzoo after the kids are to bed and the dishes done, while he reads or watches some movie and crochet. It is so much more relaxing to me and I feel as if I have done something instead of sitting and waiting to be entertained. I am learning to relax in ways that build relationship, expand minds and build character.