By Sarah Martin Hood
Right this very second on our DVR, there are 104 recordings. The oldest one I could find is dated June 5. This is my life. I rave and rave about DVR — how it has changed the way we live — and yet, there they sit. 104 individual recordings. Unwatched.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the concept of DVR. The only things we watch live anymore are sports and the news. DVR has added a level of convenience to our lives that we never knew existed — we don’t really watch commercials, we don’t stop what we’re doing if “our show is on” — we watch it when it’s convenient. And I sometimes wonder how it USED to work.
So – I’m a fan. But I have six months worth of unwatched shows on the machine… What am I missing? Oh man, do I have such good intentions. This summer when all the ads were running for the new fall line-up, I was chomping at the bit for the new shows to start. “Oh! That looks PERFECT for us! I’ll have to remember to set the DVR.” Sometimes I remembered. Sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I’ll have five spare minutes and I’ll get just far enough into a TV show that I’m hooked – and it’ll be time to get my little guy up from his nap so I hit Record and try to remember to watch the rest of it later. But I don’t. I bet you about a third of those 104 recordings fall into this category. Yep. Good intentions.
Good intentions and too little time. Some of my favorite shows are on there. A few weeks ago I stayed home from work with a stomach bug and watched six weeks’ worth of Parenthood in a row. SIX. Had it not been for the stomach bug, who knows? Those six episodes might still be sitting there, taunting me every morning as I sift through episodes of Glee I’ve already heard about on Facebook and skip past movies I couldn’t WAIT to see when they came out in THEATERS — so I might find The Muppets Take Manhattan for Little Guy to watch for the umpteenhundredth time this week while we finish getting ready for work. Muppets Take Manhattan trumps Parenthood. Every. Single. Time.
I make it sound like I’m hooked on TV – which couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, if I’ve learned anything from DVR it’s that I only have room in my life for SO much nonsense. There are only so many hours between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. — you know? When Little Guy goes to bed each night, it’s a battle of priorities. Fold laundry? Catch up on blogging? Edit some photos? Wash dishes? Go workout? … Watch TV? Yeah — it’s in there somewhere, but it rarely makes it to that coveted top spot on the To Do List. I’m routinely “behind” on the handful of shows I DO watch — and I’ve just had to get comfortable with that. Maybe I should ask Santa for another stomach bug so I can get all caught up on Glee?
So if you were to interview my DVR, it would likely tell you I’m a sitcom and movie fan — with a dash of reality TV — whose intentions are clearly greater than the day is long. What does your DVR say about you?
Sarah would love to hear from you with questions or feedback regarding gadgets, technology, or blogging. You can also stop by Sarah’s personal blog, Musings of Mother Hood to say hello. To read previous installments of Techno Mama, click here!
