Can we really say goodbye to the Internet?

We're all arrogant chez nous because we don't have a television. We never have. When I moved out of my parents' house, I just never wanted one. A few of my gazillions of past roommates had TVs. But most of the apartments I lived in over the past 20 years were TV free.

I used to read a lot of books. And go to movies. And write letters.

Now J and I use the Internet.

Sometimes J and I get all proud, thinking about how other families sit around with their kids and watch TV in the evenings. And we say things like "we're instilling the right values" by playing with our kids and singing songs and all that.

But let's face it: we've just replaced TV with something far less communal -- the Internet. Instead of joining mom and dad on the couch at the end of the day, our kids often see one of us, back turned, staring into a little box.

In their eyes, that little box has a lot of power. Where do mom and dad go? Why is that little box so important that we have to check it several times a day? And do Pingu and the Teletubbies live in that little box?

The fact is, that little box isn't important at all.

So we're getting ready to cut the next big addiction: the Internet. Right now, we're gathering up our big strong selves to turn it off November 1. Yep. Turn off our Internet connection.

Because we live in the middle of at least a dozen coffee shops with free wireless. And I'm sure, after a month of pacing, muttering and realizing I shouldn't have recycled the yellow pages, we'll be just fine.

Maybe I'll even start reading books again.