Confessions of a TV Addict

My name is Tara and I am a TV addict. They say acknowledging your addiction is the first step on the road to recovery, so there it is.

I have been a TV addict for as long as I can remember. I actually remember thinking that the only bad thing about going to kindergarten was that I would miss The Price is Right in the morning.

Later, when I was 9 or 10, I became addicted to watching pro football. The year the Bears won the Superbowl, I watched every minute of every game. Go Bears!!

I used to schedule my paper route every day so that I could watch Scarecrow and Mrs King reruns (my favorite show ever). I either did it right after school so I could be done before it started, or wait to do it until after it ended.

I couldn't wait to get home from church when I was a kid so that we could watch Wonder Woman reruns.

In junior high, my friends and I used to get together every week so we could watch Saturday Night Live. I ran home from school each day to see what was happening on Days of Our Lives. I also tried really hard to make it home on Saturday nights so I could watch Remington Steele reruns. And every night I fell asleep to The Arsenio Hall Show.

My addiction waned a little in high school and college because I was pretty much never home. And my apartment didn't have a TV for a while when I was single.

But now it is back again. I found that I could watch all the old shows that I love online, anytime that I wanted (my favorites like Scarecrow and Remington Steele). And now that I have my own laptop and wireless internet, it is hard to resist. Then if you throw in Netflix and my DVR that I love, I am in some real trouble. Admittedly, I hardly ever just watch TV. I am usually doing indexing on my computer, or folding laundry, or doing some kind of household chore. It also helps me get my projects done. But when I find myself dreaming about the shows I watch, I wonder if maybe I'm going a little overboard. Do you know how disturbing it is to dream about being a character in MASH (another show that I've watched a lot of in my day)?

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, I married a TV addict. John loved watching TV when he was a kid and I know because he knows about lots of old shows that I've never even heard of. Together we watch Smallville, various Star Treks, and anything superhero related. When we were first married we watched a lot of Mad About You and Friends. We also love the Food Network and I am happy to point out to John good ideas to try for meals. We love Netflix and coordinate our selections. I'm trying to talk him into watching Babylon 5 and he tries to spice up my life with things like Samurai Jack (which I could only take one season of).

So what am I prepared to do about this addiction? I'm not sure. I really like my TV. I am going to try and not let my addiction get in the way of my parenting, my marriage, or my scripture study, but that is about as far as I'm prepared to go. I've taken the first step, and I'll think about the next one while I'm watching the next episode of Babylon 5. Dang this series is good.