It was my first challenge, and I thought it was going to be easy.

I didnt really watch that much anyway.  Well thats what I thought.

After the first 24 hours, I realised how much I relied on television as background noise, passive entertainment, a way to fill time as I was feeding Liam, or eating breakfast etc. I got myself thinking, how much time do I actually waste in front of the TV?

After another few days, I had realised that I was able to get ready for work quicker, I paid more attention to Liam as I fed him, Paul and I spoke more in the evenings, and I actually went to bed earlier and fell asleep quicker as I wasn’t thinking about the storyline of the show I had just watched.

It got me thinking how passive I must live my life when I get sucked into shows like Home and Away and Neighbours, and actually have cravings of needing to know what might happen the next night.  I was genuinely craving a soapie fix.  I also heard both Paul and I say on more than one occasion: next ads. But why?

I guess I have always liked stories, ever since mum read me books as a little girl, and ever since I became obsessed with the human race.  Stories are a way humans communicate to each other.  It is a way we learn, a chance to interact with each other, and at times, gives us a common ground between strangers.

As I overanalysed myself through the week without tv, I managed to come to some conclusions.  I really liked hearing real stories from real people, rather than madeup soapie lines with weekly cliffhangers.  I really enjoy having the tv on in the background each morning, as I get updated on the news, weather forecasts and it keeps reminding me of the time.  I also realised I do waste a lot of time watching television, when I had led myself to believe I didnt actually watch that much.

So a few outcomes from this challenge:  I go to bed when Paul goes to bed, I don’t need to watch the show that is coming on next (Paul says if he starts a show he has to see it through) as sleep is more important.  Life is not going to be over if I miss the next episode of Home and Away. My son actually makes cute faces when Im feeding him, it is way more interesting to watch then the adverts on tv.