I know, it makes no sense. It’s illogical, even. If you (understandably) rolled your eyes when you read the title, hang with me for a minute. I, too, have been a strong critic of televisions in the bedroom. My main argument was that the bedroom should be a restful place – a sanctuary, if you will – and a TV has no place there. Plus, it’s an eyesore. In December, though, I gave in and broke my own rule, and you know what? I’m glad I did.
You see, Christmas was quickly approaching. I’d almost finished all my shopping; the only thing left to figure out was the ‘big’ gift for my husband. A fun fact about him: one of his absolute favorite things about vacation is staying in hotels. Why? Because hotels have televisions in the bedrooms. He can lay in bed and watch TV, and it makes him positively giddy. What can I say? He’s generally an easy man to please. For some reason, this little fact occurred to me while I was thinking about what to get him, so I did a quick Google search. Within minutes I found a TV that was the right size, on sale, and there was ONE left at my local store. I loaded our son into the car and bought it before I had time to talk myself out of it.
Now that you know how we came to have a TV in our bedroom, despite my reservations, let me tell you how it’s affected us, and you might want to sit down for this. It’s actually brought us closer together! ‘How?’ you ask. Allow me to share a few ways.
We’re Physically Closer
When we spend time in the living room after our son’s bedtime, my husband and I typically sit in separate chairs. We’re in the same room, but we’re not right next to each other. When we lay in bed, though, not only are we right next to each other, we’re touching. Our bed is a full (gasp! I know, but it does actually fit two people), so snuggling is the only option. Being ‘forced’ to inhabit the same space has also led to my next point.
We Talk More
Sitting in our separate chairs in the living room, my husband and I were also spending a LOT of time on our phones. There’s something relaxing about mindlessly scrolling through Instagram at the end of the day, but, sadly, it doesn’t do much for your marriage. Turning on the TV got us to put our phones down, which got us to talk more, all while laughing at Michael Scott in the background. (Because, let’s be honest, don’t we all watch The Office reruns before bed?)
We Go To Bed Earlier
We put our son down between 7:30 and 8:00 every night. As soon as he’s asleep, my husband and I head to our room, talk about the day and anything on our minds, and watch some television. Since, conveniently, we’re already in bed while we do all this, I think our minds are tricked into thinking that it’s ‘time for bed’, so recently we’ve been calling it a night earlier than normal. The extra rest has made us both more agreeable (most days, we’re still human), and that’s never a bad thing.
So now that you know about our bedroom habits (*wink*), tell me – what small change has unexpectedly helped your marriage?
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