This is part 2 of a new series. My podcast is called Outer Monologue and I'm running this series on my podcast too if you'd like to check it out here.
This is Outer Monologue (Off).
Missed part 1? Read Family Reading Time.
I like to call this concept Old Show Dinner. What does that even mean?
How We Keep Kids Talking About Their Day
In my family we talk a lot. From the time the kids jump in the car to the time we get home, they've told me the majority of the things that happened during their day. It's wonderful, and I know I'm very blessed, but I've also cultivated this habit by asking leading questions and being a little bit annoying about it, like, "Nope, tell me more. Nope, tell me more." And if we need more prompting, I do more prompting.
It is very important to me that my kids share with me. I love that now that they're both getting older (one's 12 and one's 8), they ask me about my day, they ask other grown-ups about their day, and they also understand how to keep conversations going on their own. This skill leads to more interesting conversations, and it's also great for manners. It makes your kids look really impressive.
Cooking at Home: Dinner Becomes Tomorrow's Lunch
Having said all that, we usually eat dinner pretty early in my house. I try to cook at home the majority of the week. It is not easy. But one thing it does do for us (and this is sort of an aside) is allow us to have leftovers for lunch. My kids both take their lunch to school each day, so dinner creates the next day's lunch. It's really helpful, kind of a hack, I guess.
What Is Old Show Dinner?
So what is Old Show Dinner? Sorry. I am digressing all over the place. In my family, the kids are not allowed to watch shows that I have not already seen or approved, and/or that we can watch through VidAngel. If you don’t know what VidAngel is, it’s amazing. I could do a whole different post on that, but for right now, if you want to learn more, here’s our website link, and I’m also going to include my affiliate link for VidAngel to get you guys, I believe, a free month? Something good! Check it out.
Disclosure: This post contains a referral link. If you sign up through it, I may earn a free month of VidAngel at no cost to you.
Setting Screen-Time Boundaries Kids Can Live With
Either way, I’m very concerned with the content that my kids consume, and because of that, we have a lot of guardrails and boundaries in place. But there is good-quality television and entertainment out there. I loved watching television growing up, and I don’t think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. So again, with these boundaries, I feel really comfortable.
So what is Old Show Dinner? Old Show Dinner happens during dinnertime. After we’ve made dinner (usually that’s done together as a family, or while the kids are working on homework), we bring dinner to the table, and we also bring an iPad to the table. The television is not visible from our dining room, so we use an iPad, and we put on a quote-unquote “old show.”
The Best Old Family Shows to Watch at Dinner
Right now, we're watching Full House. The original Full House, not Fuller House. Previously, we've watched home remodeling shows, we've watched some holiday baking shows, and exploration-type series on the History channel or Discovery.
The kids have really just enjoyed sitcoms lately. We've watched Even Stevens, and we've watched Gravity Falls, which I guess is not a sitcom. My daughter and I are watching Boy Meets World. That's a little old for my son still, so we're not watching that all together as a family yet. But anyway, picking different family shows from the nineties and two-thousands has worked really well for us. Also, if the show is a little much for my 8YO we watch through VidAngel.
A few more suggestions: Just Add Magic, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the old one), Psych, etc. If it was on SNICK or TGIF back in the day—we’ll usually give it a shot.
Why Watching TV at Dinner Works for Our Family
A 30-minute episode is really a 22-ish-minute episode, which is about perfect for everyone to eat. If somebody has something they want to say, we just pause the show and chat about it. But dinner is not the only time my family and I yap, so I don't worry about losing this time. It's entertaining. We enjoy talking about the show, we enjoy watching it all together, and it's a great topic of conversation for later.
So I get it. I know from working with fitness industry professionals that you're not supposed to take in content while you eat. You're supposed to savor your food. Yep, got it. That doesn't work as well for us. So in this case, we're kind of going against the grain. Watching an old show and chatting about it while we eat dinner works really well for us, and it's something fun and something to look forward to.
The kids do not watch television on their own. We watch what we call "family shows" during the week, and because of that, this is probably the only television they're watching, unless we watch a show or a documentary before we go to bed.
I limit screen-time during the week because it just works for our family. The kids are less overwhelmed. They complete their tasks. They have no “lost time” where 5 minutes of scrolling or TV turns into 50. We have time to prepare for the next day at school and by limiting these distractions the whole house just feels more balanced.
Old Show Dinner
Does it sound a little crazy if you've never done anything like this before? Sure. But this works for us. Although it's not necessarily completely analog or unplugged, it's one more way to start paring down what we use devices and streaming for in our home. Could you do a hard “no” on TV during the week or just in general—sure! Do what works for you and your family. No judgement here.
But I like TV. I work in media. I love seeing good, interesting, entertaining, and/or educational content and I believe I should be the one curating it for our family to reflect our values and the boundaries we set for healthy lifestyles, brains, and relationships.
If you try this or already do something similar, I’d love to hear about it!
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