If there's one thing I've learned in my seven years of parenting, it's to plan ahead. Before our family embarked upon our screen-free week, I laid in supplies like we were time traveling to Little House on the Prairie land. There was a trip to the library to check out exciting new books. I bought a new puzzle, and we talked extensively about what else we would be doing instead of watching TV. While this kind of planning might seem like just another chore for the to-do list, I've learned that there's a big payoff -- not just to keep kids away from screens, but to spark new energy in the house.

One effective tool to keep the kids busy is a "nothing to do" list, which you can post right on the TV. When you hear "I'm bored," you don't have to scramble for ideas -- just point kids to the list.

Since my TV-Free Mom diary started, we've received tons of practical ideas that can help your family move away from the TV and toward active, engaging activities. And from the sound of your comments, a lot of you are raising kids who are more interested in reading, writing, acting, and the arts than becoming couch potatoes. With so much collective knowledge in the comments, I thought I'd summarize some of the great ideas everyone has offered.

Use the DVR

There are at least three key ways that using a digital video recorder helps limit TV: You can control commercials, you can be picky about what you watch, and you can manage your kids' time more efficiently.

Some of the main complaints we hear from parents about kids' media consumption is about managing ads and other messages of consumerism. With the DVR, parents and kids are in control of whether or not they watch commercials. Teach kids what commercials are and why we want to limit their influence in our lives. Then teach them how to fast forward.

By programming the DVR to record programs you approve for your kids, you're more in control of what kids watch. You may need some downtime and want to plunk the kids in front of the TV, but you don't want to be at the mercy of the programming schedule. And teach kids to be picky, too.

One of the greatest things about the DVR is that it makes watching a TV show a finite experience. As one parent contributor said, it's harder to pull kids away from a show once it's started. Recorded shows end when they're done. And if a show's not done and the TV needs to go off, say "record it," and watch kids' protests disappear.

Build your own TV lineup

A surprising number of you have given up TV altogether. But that doesn't mean that television and movies are necessarily out of your life. You use other methods to watch media and have more control over what you bring into your house. You use YouTube and Netflix, you rent videos, you buy shows or movies from iTunes and watch them on your computer. Good for you for taking an active role in choosing what you and your kids watch!

Configure your home to reflect your values

If you want TV to be in the background of your family's life, then put it in the background. Living rooms across the country (and, increasingly, the world) use the television as the focal point. One parent contributor keeps her family's TV in the basement, which means it's not on her family's daily radar. You can also keep it behind a media cabinet door or under a decorative cloth. And you can take the next step and put all media devices (cell phones, laptops, iPods) in an out-of-the-way location if they interfere with your family's interactions.

Thanks again for all your fabulous ideas and encouragement throughout this week. While I'm fairly certain we won't become a screen-free family, I've found this project super helpful to really see our family's patterns around screen use. And your comments and suggestions have been enormously helpful.

Tomorrow, the continuing adventures of "weird-free" week. (And my daughter's still working on her latest chapter book, but she read at least four "preschool" books last night -- including at the dinner table!)

Day 5: The Role Model Is Me