I’ve always had one opinion about television in the bedroom: Not in my house. Sorry if that sounds preachy or judgy; but it’s my honest opinion. I want my bedroom to be for quiet time, reading, and sleeping.
And then the March 2018 snow-pocalypse happened on the eastern seaboard. We lost power with Nor’easter #3 and learned exactly how our generator works, or should I say doesn’t work, to maintain our usual lifestyle. The kitchen was fully powered, including the dishwasher and microwave (YAY!), but nothing else on the entire first floor worked, including the only television (BOO!). Listen, folks, I can wash dishes by hand, but I can’t act out a movie for my children’s amusement. And after a day of playing outside in the snow with my beautiful children, I was really ready to make dinner uninterrupted while they lounged with a movie.
I was complaining to my mom on the phone that the generator powered the master bedroom and, “If the television wasn’t bolted to the wall, I would be muscling it up the stairs right now.” Or something along those lines. This was the first time that I ever wished we had a bedroom television. Thankfully the always astute 7-year-old was listening and pointed out that Daddy has an old computer monitor in the office that can be used as a television if you add an Amazon Firestick and, to quote said child, “It’s not bolted to the wall.”
Less than five minutes later, I had the three children set up in my bed watching Planes: Fire & Rescue while I made dinner, and all felt right in the world! A few days later, my husband was working late, and I decided to curl up in bed to watch This Is Us while waiting up for him. Gee, that felt nice to curl up in bed and watch TV. Is this what I’ve been missing?
Fast forward one month, and the computer monitor television is still there in our bedroom. We haven’t used it again, but we haven’t moved it either. I keep thinking that it would be nice to curl up with the kids on a Saturday morning and put on a cartoon, but I can never actually make myself do it. We have gone so far as to consider putting a, gasp, real television there. The previous owners had one, so the bracket marks on the wall are glaring at us every day. My gut wants to put a nice piece of artwork over the wall marks, but part of me also says to just cover it up with an actual television. Something tells me that the computer monitor (and all of its cords) will continue to sit there and stare at us for a few months while continuing the debate.
