Remember the days when there was no TV? Well plenty of us don't. Today television is the norm for all families and it's really cut into 'family time' in a big way. Talk is to a minimum as everyone stares at the screen. Set up a few rules and regulations and you can prevent your whole family from becoming strangers in their own home.

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Set specific times for watching television. Many kids turn on the TV as soon as they get home each day. On weekends they wake up and the first thing they do is turn on the TV. If you don't take control of it, television will take over your children's life. During the week, television viewing should be kept to a maximum of two to two and a half hours. There are plenty of chores and homework tasks for the kids to finish when they get home each day.

Don't have the television on during dinner and let everyone sit in front of it and eat. Dinner is a time for the family to be together. It's a time for everyone to sit together and talk about their day. We'd never know what exciting thing happened at school or that our spouse had gotten a raise if we were all mesmerized by the TV. If we don't spend time talking together then we really miss out on important events and changes in each other's lives. This is a truly sacred time when we all sit at the dinner table.