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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that if you are going to watch TV,

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Speaker 1: you could make this time more satisfying by turning screen

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Speaker 1: time into a party. Today's tip, like some other recent ones,

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Speaker 1: comes from Sarah hartunger my co host on the Best

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Speaker 1: of Both Worlds podcasts. She mentioned that a recent highlight

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Speaker 1: in her life had been watching The Dance Mom's season

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Speaker 1: finale with her family. They knew it was coming up,

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Speaker 1: they all planned to be together to watch it. They

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Speaker 1: gathered with special snacks, and they enjoyed the experience together.

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Speaker 1: In other words, they turned TV time into a party.

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Speaker 1: I love this idea. Contrary to what you might as seen,

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Speaker 1: I am not totally anti TV. I don't watch myself

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Speaker 1: other than the occasional sports game, but I know that

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Speaker 1: there is a lot of excellent TV on offer these days.

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Speaker 1: The key to making TV time feel more like a

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Speaker 1: treat rather than a waste of time is to be

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Speaker 1: intentional about watching it. Consciously enjoying screen time with other

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Speaker 1: people is a great way to do that. So think

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Speaker 1: about how you might lean into TV as a shared experience.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you and your family all like a particular show,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's one that's been out for a while, or

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Speaker 1: maybe it's a new one coming up. Maybe you and

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Speaker 1: your friends all generally enjoy some major cultural experience, like

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, the Oscars, or the weekend games of

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Speaker 1: one of your local sports teams. Maybe you all like

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Speaker 1: movie adaptations of Jane Austen books or any show with

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Speaker 1: Benedict Cumberbatch. Think about what is truly must see TV

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Speaker 1: for you. Then, once you have figured out what you

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Speaker 1: enjoy most, figure out when you're going to watch it collectively.

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Speaker 1: For certain live events like the Academy Awards, that's easy

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Speaker 1: to do, but these days a lot of stuff can

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Speaker 1: be watched whenever. The problem with that is that people

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Speaker 1: don't think about it ahead of time, so they don't

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Speaker 1: get the benefit of anticipation. So think about it. Put

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Speaker 1: a specific time on your calendar, and make sure your

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Speaker 1: friends and family are on board so you can look

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Speaker 1: forward to watching together. You and your kids could start

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Speaker 1: getting psyched up for Wicked movie Night on an upcoming Friday,

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Speaker 1: or you could invite your friends over to watch The

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Speaker 1: Breakfast Club on the first morning kids are back in school.

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Speaker 1: After spring break, you could host a small Jane Austen

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Speaker 1: watching party, or even watch while facetiming a far flung friend.

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Speaker 1: Even if you don't do this quite so formally, you

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Speaker 1: can still embrace the concept of looking forward to collective

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Speaker 1: TV watching. For instance, maybe you and your partner love

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Speaker 1: watching Emily and Paris. Anytime you are not wiped out

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Speaker 1: after your kids go to bed, you could text him

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Speaker 1: in the afternoon to say you are looking forward to

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Speaker 1: your post bedtime watch party tonight. The anticipation can add

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Speaker 1: to the fun, and maybe you guys will bring your

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Speaker 1: a game to getting the kids down as a result. Finally,

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Speaker 1: if your screen time is a party, then treat it

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Speaker 1: like a party. Most parties have some sort of food,

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Speaker 1: and that is certainly a good option for screen time

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Speaker 1: parties too. My family likes having wings and nachos if

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Speaker 1: we are watching a football game. If you are watching

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Speaker 1: a movie, maybe like a bowl of popcorn or even

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Speaker 1: milk duds if that is your movie theater treat of choice.

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Speaker 1: You could eat something related to what you are watching,

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Speaker 1: like scones. If you're watching The Crown, you could potentially

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Speaker 1: get out props or costumes, break out the sleeping bags

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Speaker 1: and pillows if you and your kids are watching something

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Speaker 1: a little after bedtime, or invite friends to wear cool

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Speaker 1: hats for a Kentucky Derby party. Whatever form your party takes,

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Speaker 1: the main idea is to be intentional and to treat

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Speaker 1: this time as more special than just vegging out because

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Speaker 1: you have nothing better to do. A lot of screen

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Speaker 1: time is wasted time, but when it's a party, it isn't.

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Speaker 1: And I am a big fan of using all time

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Speaker 1: well in the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.