Wholesome Entertainment

I know I don't have to tell you there is a lot of trash these days on TV. And I tell Hunter all the time when he asks me if he can watch Transformers, Spiderman, etc. that although a program might not be necessarily bad for his mind, it's not necessarily good for it either.We decided to cancel Dish Network so that my husband's hard-earned dollars weren't contributing to financially support shows that are not in line with our values. So many shows are feeding the decay and immoral state of our culture and we just couldn't justify it anymore.

We went without TV at all for a month or two because of the move and still being in between two houses. We decided we wanted to subscribe to SkyAngel, but that's some months down the road for us. In the meantime, we decided it was worth the $10 a month to subscribe to Netflix to take advantage of their "watch instantly" stuff.

I was so excited when we first got it, but quickly found that there was not a lot on there I felt comfortable allowing my kids to watch. The very first movie we watched was Finding Rin Tin Tin. I mean, how can you go wrong with that classic-dog-hero-story, right? It ended up being a remake of the original with the highlights being a scene where the dog gets drunk and wanders around the barracks disturbing everyone, another scene that was all about the dog farting, and the icing on the cake was a scene where Rin Tin Tin peed in the bad guy's cup and he drank it. Just what I want my two little boys being entertained by. I was so annoyed and disappointed.

After a handful of other not-so-great viewing experiences I decided to help all of us out by combing Netflix for a couple of days and coming up with a list of acceptable programming. I put my list in a frame right next to the TV so there would be no confusion. Hunter LOVES having such a long list of programs to read and decide from.
And man, I really don't mean to be a stick in the mud about this but when it comes to what my kids (and myself, for that matter) are being entertained by I can't help but think:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

Phillipians 4:8 NIV

That verse just puts it into perspective, doesn't it? Incidentally, I really hope to get this same verse as vinyl wall art some day and put it right above my TV as a constant reminder for all of my family.

And may I just say that if you happen to have Netflix and you have a little boy in your house, you simply MUST check out the 1960's TV show "Flipper." There are all sorts of adventures that my two boys have been riveted to. The show has two brothers who are always working hard doing chores around their house and obeying their father. There has been so much of that mindset that is completely LOST in today's TV for children. It's a shame.

The first episode my boys watched had a rescue where Flipper was actually dropped out of the helicopter into the water to fetch something that got lost. I thought Nathanael's eyes were gonna pop out of his head. Now the boys are staging all sorts of rescues of their own during their playtime. So fun!
And so...I take the job to be a gatekeeper for my boys' eyes, ears, mind, and heart seriously. And while I'm not perfect at it by any means, I will continue to enforce my own convictions about entertainment on the sweet little blessings that the Lord has entrusted me with.

I will continue to closely monitor what they watch. I will also always try to pause shows and talk with the boys about when we are watching a good example of obedience, truthfulness, kindness, etc., or a bad one like lying, stealing, disobedience, and mean behavior. Not every show is gonna be perfect, but I try not to let the imperfect parts go by without turning them into a teachable moment to talk about.

How do you handle TV programming in your home? What shows do your children watch that you feel are instilling the values in them that you want them to have?