HOW little I have missed television, I thought, as we came to our fifth year without TV.

When our daughter turned 2, we moved into a house that wasn't cable-ready.

And we decided not to install it anyway as we didn't have time for TV programmes.

There was only one baby after all, and we wanted more.

Enough said.

One thing led to another and we've been going without TV programmes since. Not even the free-to-air channels.

Of course, we have VCDs and DVDs and the kids are as addicted to Barney and Magic School Bus as their friends.

We don't spend evenings crouched over flashcards and dinner times are as raucous and chaotic as any other family with young children.

But something is subtly different in a home without TV. It's less noisy.

When there is no conversation, there is a comfy silence.

Once, while I was cutting leaves with my daughter for the compost bin, I realised we had been silently doing that for 15minutes.

Try keeping quiet for 15 minutes in the same room as another member of your family.

In a theatre of the absurd that is modern parenting, we think we ought to be funny or wise, imparting knowledge or offering love, accepting counsel or engaged in clever conversation.

Or we switch on the television. Nothing can be heard over the din.

SOUND OF MUSIC

Recently though, I introduced music in the house.

My 6-year-old daughter was ready to learn the piano.

So I decided to hire a tutor. One came, armed with a graduate degree (photocopied) from the US.

'Will you play for us?' I asked.

I sat expectantly as she lifted the lid on the piano. If not Frank Lizst, at least Debussy.

Instead, she pulled out a book of kids' music and launched into a spirited rendition of... Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Yung, my 4-year-old son, clapped delightedly at the end.

I was taken aback, but decided she perhaps wanted to play to her audience. After all, Mozart wrote a nice score for Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars.

I tried asking my sister, whose teenage daughter is also studying piano.

'Oh, she is at a school and it's much better because the certs are all checked, and the teachers are good,' she said.

I don't want that, I thought.

I just want someone who likes to play and likes kids, and whose repertoire extends beyond Jingle Bells.

I found another teacher through an online ad and, this time, I asked upfront if she likes Chopin and Debussy.

'Yes, maybe I can play for you?' she offered.

How nice to have new sounds in the house.