How to Survive TV Turnoff Week!May 3, 2014

Happy TV Turnoff Week ! This year the powers that be are raising the stakes, having renamed the yearly event to Screen-Free Week.

At So Ready Designs we are firm believers in the less is more philosophy (unless chocolate is involved), so we’ve elected to turnoff the TV, while leaving our other screens up and running.

When it comes to turning off the TV, we love it! Here’s why:

1. More eye contact, less screen contact
2. More family dinners, less TV dinners
3. More real people chatting, less actors scripting

More importantly, we love turning off the TV because it wreaks havoc on our body image! Here are a few stats which make us cry:

• More than 50% of 10 year old girls wish they were thinner.
• 53% of American girls age 13 are “unhappy with their bodies.” This number climbs to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.
• The average American woman is 5’4″ and 140 pounds, while the average American model is 5′ 11″ and 117 pounds
• The more time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos the more dissatisfied they are with their body.
• In a recent study 10 year old girls and boys expressed dissatisfaction with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show “Friends”.

What to do with your new found freedom from the TV and unrealistic body comparisons? Family dinners, fireside chats, neighborhood walks, card games, board games top our list of favs. When it comes to card games we find ourselves partial to Spoons aka Pig, Hearts and Spit. While they did not make the Top 20 Most Popular Board Games list, here are a few of our favorite board games:

• Sorry
• Apples to Apples
• Boggle
• Settlers of Catan

Have any favorites you’d like to share? We are always on the lookout for more chatting, more laughing, more fun with real people!