We're going "old school" with our TV

Dean has been unemployed since October, and thankfully, we've been "OK" financially. All of the bills are paid, we have food to eat and clothes to wear. There is just very little "wiggle room" for many extras. The budget is tight...about as tight as it can get without getting really aggressive.

We've had this running debate...well, mainly it has been me complaining about the kids and the TV. When Dean and I married, the one practical asset he owned was his big TV. It's about 12 years old, but it's really big (don't ask me how big...just big). It's also klunky....takes a whole sofa table of its own. It's been a great TV!

Three years ago, we re-did our master bedroom and treated ourselves to a 42 inch TV (and don't ask me why I know how big that one is an not the other one). It's not top of the line, but it is a flat screen, and it is awesome!

We have 1 DVR in the house (remember the budget issue we had two until the lay off). The remaining DVR has been attached to the main TV in the living room. The kids record everything under the sun, clog up the memory on the DVR and basically watch WAY too much TV when they really should be doing other things....like studying. I have threatened and threatened to take the DVR and put it in our room. First, we have the HDTV, and we only get the good channels with the HDMI cable and the box that enables the channels. Second, if we are paying over $100 a month for cable (and I recognize that this is a selfish indulgence), then I think the box should be in our room!

On Tuesday, Dean took the box back to Comcast and picked up the one that works for our HDTV. Mariah got wind of this while the switch was happening and was in a dead on panic because "she hadn't watched her show." (Secret Life of the American Teenager) This only reinforced my whole point!

To be fair, we did not leave them hanging with no means of recording shows. We hooked up a VCR....yes, you read correctly....a VCR. Dominique (who is almost 12) was full of questions.

"Can I tape two shows at once?"
"No. You can only tape one show at a time."
I thought her head might explode.

"How does it work?"
"There are these things called tapes...we'll get you some and show you how to program it."
Again, perplexed look in those baby blues...

"Do I have to be home when it is recording?"
"No. You can set it up ahead of time."
A bit of a relieved look.

If the worst things that happen to my kiddos is that they have to program the VCR (and it's a new VCR/DVD combo) to watch their favorite shows from cable TV, they are living a pretty privileged life. They haven't really complained too much about it because, honestly, what can they say? They love the "on demand" features and the recording privileges and the guide features, but they won't die without them.

We haven't yet made it through a weekend yet without the DVR downstairs, and because of the Olympics, hardly and of the regular programs are on right now to even need recording. So this might have a bigger impact in a week or so. I'm sticking to my guns, though. I work hard, and I should have the DVR with my nice TV in the comfort of my master bedroom. When they work hard and earn money to pay for their cable bill, they can have a DVR where they want it. We did offer them a 6 month advanced payment plan if they each want to pony up $30, we'll get the 2nd DVR for the living room. 30 bucks each for 6 months....let's see how worth it is to them....he, he, he.

At least their TV is in color. At least the TV has more than 4 channels. At least they don't have to walk across the room to change the channel. They have no idea how good they have it!