Over the past few years I've come to realize how bad TV can be, with the senseless comedy, immodesty, Christian-bashing, mind-numbing shows and commercials, etc. I realized this when I went off to college and for the first time was without regular access to a television, and this started before I turned toward traditionalism. This may sound dumb, but my question for all you TV-abstainers is what you do with your spare time? Like I said, I'm in college now, and I'm so busy and don't own a TV, so it's easy. But what about later on, and when you have a family? I understand that one can devote more time to charitable works, prayer, Scripture study, spiritual reading, etc. But what do y'all do, such as in the evenings, either by yourselves, with your spouse, and/or with your children?

Use the internet!!

Serious answer: there's a difference between what I DO and what I SHOULD do.  Any Christian life that finds "extra" time (like the time you find yourself with after you get rid of TV)  should spend it growing in faith by prayer, meditation, etc.

We should always strive to grow in the faith.  So that's priority number one.  Get yourself a Denzinger or a subscription to a Catholic Newspaper like CFN or something.  

Now if you're talking about "what do you do for fun that isn't religious and isn't tv?"  That's another question.  I have a TV, but I don't get any programming on it.  My wife and I watch netflix.  Sometimes I play video games, although those really aren't the best way to spend time as while they're certainly capable of being good and even moral fun, it's a great way to waste time if you're not careful.

I have, on and off, painted miniatures from like LotR or just general fantasy characters.  This is a fun past time that involves creativity, and it's something you can do in silence and pray during or listen to chant.  It does cost money.  

I'll share with you one of the things I do that kind of "combines" videogames and spirituality.  I have a few strategy games ( Rome Total War, Medieval Total War) that I'll play with the sound down and at the same time listen to wfts radio http://www.wftsradio.com/   So what I can do is lead Catholic England or some other Medeival faction to a Glorious Christian mission by going on Crusades or building Cathedrals and burning heretics all while listening to Fr Jenkins or someone else give a great sermon.  

Anyways, I don't know if that helped but hopefully it did.

Over the past few years I've come to realize how bad TV can be, with the senseless comedy, immodesty, Christian-bashing, mind-numbing shows and commercials, etc. I realized this when I went off to college and for the first time was without regular access to a television, and this started before I turned toward traditionalism. This may sound dumb, but my question for all you TV-abstainers is what you do with your spare time? Like I said, I'm in college now, and I'm so busy and don't own a TV, so it's easy. But what about later on, and when you have a family? I understand that one can devote more time to charitable works, prayer, Scripture study, spiritual reading, etc. But what do y'all do, such as in the evenings, either by yourselves, with your spouse, and/or with your children?

We dumped the TV about 4 years ago. There was the "withdrawl" stage which lasted a few months. I can't tell you how much of a blessing it has been not having the "idiot box" around.

All the good books that had been collecting dust on my shelf are now getting read. After awhile the very thought of having a TV on will seem repugnant to you. Make the plunge and trust in God. You will not be disappointed.

I'm married with 5 children. After dinner in the evening we have family Rosary. I have started reading aloud from "The Liturgical Year" in the evening. We are currently learning Latin together as a family. If I can offer a single piece of advice to anyone it would be to "kill your TV."

Read, hobbies, recreation, visit other people, have people over, family projects,

You biggest problem will finding more good books for your children to read.

But what do y'all do, such as in the evenings, either by yourselves, with your spouse, and/or with your children?

I cut out T.V. a couple years ago for the same reasons you did. I found it had no value, or at least not enough to justify keeping it around.

Yeah, make more time for reading and prayer, etc. but outside of that I try to spend my free time on things that are fun, but enriching as well. I evaluate my activities and cut out the things that make my mind or hands idle. In short, I'd like to be giving of my free time to others or giving myself something to gain by leisure time.  In other words... something useful, haha.

Do you like building things? The possibilities are endless with building things. Maybe you could learn to build something cool- as small as an instrument or something as big as a deck. Woodworking? (I'm not good at that stuff, so I don't do it, but a lot of men are excellent builders.)Do you like music? Maybe you could learn some instruments. Language? Do you like the outdoors? I find the study of nature to be a very satisfying past time for me. Do you like excercizing? Canoeing, kayaking, fishing? Collecting? Writing? Photography?

I'm not married yet, but I imagine all of those things mentioned above would fit well into family leisure time as well.

My books kicked the television set out of my room  

I only watch the morning newscast during breakfast to check out the weather and traffic before work.

So, I just read mostly (or scan pages, edit and post them here on CathInfo as I read them) or write (correspondence, research articles, miscellaneous notes for unauthorized autobiographies, &c.).

 :reading:

Plenty of good answers floating around, so I'll just address this one for now:

Particularly during the day, when wifey's at work and I'm watching the kids.

If you're free, play with them, read to them, do something physically active together ... stay away from the TV.

If you have work and other things that need to be done and you need them "out of the way", consider setting aside some sort of toys/games that they only get to play with while Mom is working. Or, if they're old enough to pay attention, put on an audio book and perhaps give them some sort of activity to go along with it (coloring or puzzle pages printed off the internet, for example).

Even if you're at a loss and are considering "screen time", something like pbskids.org (puzzle games for little kids) or a suitably-aged educational game on the computer is better than mindless watching of TV programs.

We have a tv, and we spend too much time on the internet!  When my husband is gone the tv is NEVER on...he uses it as a noisemaker more than anything else, but I listen to music.  Love to read and garden a lot.