My kids have quite a collection of videos. They literally have hundreds of VHS tapes, because there is only one local television channel that we can receive in this area. Before we decided on a satellite television company, my poor kids were deprived of a daily dose of TV and had to settle for videos.
Even though video tapes are basically obsolete, I hate to get rid of all those great movies. I decided the best option would be to go ahead and start a DVD collection, but to still hold on to those tapes. I went through and got rid of some that the kids will never watch, but we still have lots of them.
My children have TV’s in their rooms (two kids to a room) but they rarely watched in their rooms due to only having one channel, and a fuzzy channel at that. I wasn’t ready to get satellite for their rooms and figured it would only lead to way too much time spent in front of the television, but I also wanted to be able to occasionally sit and watch a show or a movie with my husband while the kids watched in their rooms.
We decided on a DVD player for the oldest two and a VCR for the younger girls. Now, the little ones have a pile of tapes to choose from and the benefit of being able to choose new ones occasionally because they cost so little. I don’t worry about them getting damaged like I would DVDs either.
The older girls ask for new DVDs for birthdays and special occasions and have begun to put together a collection. It has worked out really well and now my husband and I actually get a chance to watch something once in a while, instead of having to wait until all four kids have taken turns choosing shows.