We Got a TV! (after 15 years without one)

Even before we moved to the ranch, in our surburban house our TV broke and we just didn’t bother to fix it. We didn’t miss it and without the crutch to turn it on when the girls were tired or we needed a break - we found other things to do and spent more time outside.

When we moved to the ranch 10 years ago, there was no time for TV! So much to do and we spent all of our daylight (and many of the night) hours outside taking care of livestock and building operations on our ranch. The kids worked outside with us all day and when we came home to eat dinner and cozy around the wood stove, we talked about the day (there were many surprising things that happend on the ranch in the early days to new rachers!) and played games or eagerly crashed in bed dog-tired.

15 years later (oh my gosh!) we have teenagers and a more established routine getting all of the ranch chores done more efficiently than the early days. The kids spend so much time outside riding or caring for their horses, cleaning pens, feeding animals (and practicing roping!) that by the time we finish dinner and have a few hours of winter darkness before bed…

We’ve found the togetherness in watching a movie (or more frequently rodeos and replays on The Cowboy Channel) is something we’d be missing out on without being able to gather round a television! At this age it’s easy for kids and teenagers to catch up on their phones, and bringing a proper TV (we used to watch occasional moves or rodeo on a laptop or on a projector) brings us back together for a little more quality time before bed.

I think the years we didn’t have one were worth it. It pushed them outside and established routines of working and taking care of animals. They chose to be outside first - roping the dummy or practicing riding or helping out with chores. But I will say that it’s been fun to adjust back to piling on the couch with cozy blankets and a wood stove cranking and the memories and family time it has given us at this stage of life!

Plus… Brian loves making them watch all of the inappropriate comedy movies he watched as a kid/teen and their reactions to them are pretty hilarious! :)