Like every parent on this planet I am often tempted to allow my children to watch TV if only to give me a break for a minute. Then maybe I could get the dishes done, supper started or hang out another load of laundry. But even if I think I have these high minded chores to do, that’s still no excuse to use a plug-in drug.

I don’t watch much TV for 39 obvious reasons. When there is something that I want to see I TIVO it (DVR in our case) so I can watch it when convenient plus eliminate the advertising thus making better use of my already limited time.

I’ve read figures stating that Americans watch TV anywhere from 4-8 hours a day. I don’t even see how that’s physically possible as people have jobs and presumably need sleep.

But I did read an interesting thought in Rural Renaissance where they calculated time saved by not watching just one hour a day. 365 hours a year saved will buy you the equivalent of 15 days added to your life. Imagine what you can get done in a two week time period, theoretically freed up by eliminating just one hour of TV per day.

That staggers me.

As I’m often asked, “How do you get it all done?” I suppose the answer lies in the lack of TV viewing time. Let’s do the math, I’ll eliminate 4 hours of imaginary TV time which then gives me 61 more days than most people in which to get my chores done and my 39 children tended to. No wonder I’m never overwhelmed by my family or my life.

This isn’t to say that I don’t watch TV because I do. Or maybe more accurately would be that I try and listen to it, a Braves game while I work or my favorite weather channel since my life is closely attuned to each day’s chance of rain and the outdoor temperature. I like several other shows and DVR them but they usually self-erase before I get a chance to view them.

I love many shows on HGTV but can hardly sit still long enough to watch any of them. I DVR and fast forward to only what I’m interested in which is usually only the end of the shows. All the middle seems to be just filler.

Life is too short for me to waste it by watching other people live their lives. I want to live my own life, to get it all done, and to tend to my own very demanding family. So little time, so many children.