Yes, I am aware of the research that says that children should not watch television, adults who watch it will get fat, babies who are "exposed" to it will never develop properly, yada, yada, yada. I don't care! We watch it, okay?! There, I said it. My name is Autumn, and I let my kids watch television!
The TV is on constantly in our living room. We have three TV's in the house. Although, that shouldn't really count because the TV in the teen's room isn't connected to the dish, (just DVD's and GameBox400 or whatever) and the TV in the angel's room can only view whatever is on the TV downstairs. Long story. (Our dish programing is for two different rooms, but one night in a fit of rage and super human strength, the husband snapped the primary remote in half with his bare hands, which I found both alarming and a little bit sexy! So now we are using the second remote as the only remote and both TVs show the same channel. Huh, I guess that story wasn't so long after all!)
I even let the baby watch it. I know, I know, bad mom award. All the research says that I should be carrying my baby with me all day, reading to him and showing him flashcards. Luckily I don't have anything else to do, like get the older kids ready for school or make dinner or anything. And forget folding laundry or taking a shower! Those little luxuries will have to wait! So, I plop him down in front of Blues Clues while I unload the dishwasher. So sue me! (Apparently TV can delay the onset of speech. You say that like it's a bad thing! I'm still trying to get the older kids to shut up!) But you know, kids television isn't what it used to be. Cartoons today, especially those found on Nick Jr or Noggin, are all about learning the ABCs and sharing and things like that. They're not like the old school cartoons, where anvils were dropped on heads. (Although, I kind of miss those old cartoons, violent though they may be!)
And I'm not letting them watch just anything! When the kids went back to school it took me two tries to "pry" the TV off of the Disney channel, where it had been for two months straight. And no Cartoon Network!! Those shows are terrible at best. The teen isn't allowed to watch his "grown up" cartoons while the angel is in the room, so he records Family Guy and gets up early to watch it. (It's one of those "pick your battles" things.)
When the kids aren't here, I often put the TV on HGTV or the History Channel and just let it play while I clean or feed the baby or play on the computer. Makes great background noise, and you never know when extensive knowledge of Emperor Nero might come in handy!
See, it's not all bad. I think that watching TV is one of those things that people complain about but do anyway, like co-sleeping, eating fast food, or buying gasoline. There's a ton of research that says we shouldn't do it, but that's not going to stop us. And how did we learn about that research? From TV, of course!
3 comments:
I understand completely! We have 4 TV's in this tiny house and most of them are going constantly!! I especially appreciate it at bedtime...if it weren't for their movies I would be reading stories until midnight!!!!!
Last weekend we were at the husband's grandmother's house and the Prince asked, "where's the TV?". They do not have a TV in their house and the Prince just couldn't grasp that concept. I often wonder if he watches too much, but then when it's nap time and he won't settle down...on comes the TV! I agree that children's programing isn't what it used to be, it's much better! Heck, I learned how to count to 10 in spanish from Sesame Street, and that's about all the spanish I know even after a year of it in college!! Also, I would never know how a bill becomes a law or what a conjunction or adverb is if it weren't for School House Rock. Just because it's on the TV doesn't automatically make it bad for them.
GameBox 400! I love it! The gafah scared the dog
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