Thank God For Higglytown (Wherever the Heck That Is...)

As a firm believer in active, intellectual toddler playtime, I had sworn off the boob tube as a viable educational tool upon having my daughter. I scoffed at Baby Einstein, telling folks that "my daughter had no interest in the dog puppet and plastic fish dancing to Beethoven. Hah!" And while I had grown up watching my share of PBS, I felt as though it was my call and duty as a well-educated mother to provide my daughter with stimulating 1:1 activities that TV just could not provide.

But then she grew out of the bouncy seat. And the jumperoo. And the exersaucer. Oh, and then she figured out how to climb out of her playpen. And her crib (enter broken leg in cast for 7 weeks). So, I learned quickly that if I wanted to sleep in past 5:45am and get a shower that allowed me to wash my whole head and shave at least one armpit, the TV was my friend.

I figure you have to pick your battles, and I don't particularly love to leave the house smelling like dog and soy cheeze macaroni. And well, I like sleep almost more than life itself. And therefore, I flip on the tube - to Playhouse Disney in the early am and to Sesame Street at 9am, and enjoy a nice cup of tea and a long hot shower.

I admit that her little eyes are glued to JoJo dancing around with her (or his - still think that's up for grabs there) pet lion, or the weird no-legged Higglies hopping around town. And Elmo. Well, it's ELMO. HELLO! But, she likes it and I don't stink. It's a win-win situation in my book.

However, if you ever get talking about TV watching, particularly when you read all the research articles that say "HOORAY for TV" or "TV is the ELECTRONIC SATAN," you start to question your judgment. Perhaps I should forego the shower and play candyland baby with her? Or maybe it's just going to have to be a 5:45am wake up call everyday for a Baby Einstein Language Card extravaganza.

But, I'd like to think that TV was invented for a purpose. Sure, I know they didn't have my smelly butt in mind, but still. I'm sort of on the bandwagon that I watched some tv and I turned out reasonably okay, and so will she.

What's your tv policy? How much does you kid/do your kids watch per day? Do people give you a hard time? Or are you the hard time giver?

Comments

[nitsirkdavis]

I always thought I would not allow my children to watch TV. I feared they would become gigantic losers glued to the TV drooling. Then, I got over this irrational fear. All things in moderation. My children,aged 24 months and 11 months, love to watch Baby Einstein and Hi-5. They would probably watch more shows if we currently lived in a country that had more free English programming. We usually watch one or two in the morning while I exercise and one in the afternoon after naps. I'll be honest, I still feel a bit guilty letting them watch TV. Then, I pull myself together and realize I am being irrational and too hard on myself. I mean, really, what is going to happen to them if they watch TV??? No study has ever been done on my kids. We are raising our children the best we can. The beauty is we will NEVER truly know why they turn (or are turning out) out the way they do! If ones kids don't watch TV and subsequently read a lot, how do you KNOW that they wouldn't still read a lot with some TV watching. YOU don't because you can only live in a particular moment once. Go with your gut.

[brandy]

I really don't understand not having a TV when you have kids as long as you monitor what they watch.
As for my children and me I pick which shows they can and cannot watch. I also believe it can be a great learning tool for example my son Jacob (who just turned 3 in March) did talk very much for his age but one day when he was watching Dora and she asked him what comes next and he answered bridge (a word he had never said before) and he is still learning how to talk from shows like Dora, Blues clues, Bob the Builder. I have worked with him and he is doing a lot better with his speech than he was three months ago but he was not watching as much TV then. He is learning from something he enjoys and does not realize it, so it is fun.

[Nancy]

My girls watch TV in the evenings. Some nights it seems like a lot, but they're in day care without a television all day, so overall it's not a great amount. They watch Sesame Street and occasionally Dora or Diego, or Disney/kids movies. Maybe 2 hours a day.

I understand and respect the decisions of people who don't want to expose their kids to TV, but for me I think that TV in and of itself is not an evil influence. It's all about balance -- we try to ensure that we watch educational stuff, and supplement TV watching with time outdoors, creative play, and reading.

What's funny is my parents actually try to get me to have the kids watch MORE TV -- I was raised on Sesame Street and I think they're convinced that my kids won't learn to talk/read without enough of it. ;-)

[emma]

I never let the kids watch TV, they just watch DVDs. Therefore I can control the amount of time they are watching TV. The biggest benefit is that they get no exposure to commercials and don't pester me for the latest inane McDonalds toy etc.

[Christina]

I will admit that my daughter watches a lot of TV. And if the TV is not on, she's listening to music. She, like me, is simply a person who doesn't like silence.

Now, she only watches Playhouse Disney and Noggin, which are commercial free and appropriate for little ones. Oh, and the occasional Cirque du Soleil. She also gets plenty of running time in during the day, plus reading time and coloring time. She also doesn't sit like a zombie when watching TV. She is generally up and moving around, dancing to the music.

I grew up with the TV as my babysitter, and I think I turned out OK. I spent my days as a toddler watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. I'm sure Cordy watches less TV than I did.

I know the AAP recommends no TV before 2, but I think they're probably being more conservative than they need to be. If they told parents "only a little TV", then each parent would interpret it differently. It's like talking about moderation in drinking - what is a moderate amount?

[Karla]

I just typed out a really long reply to this then changed my mind and decided to not bog up your comments and put it in my own blog. You can read it there if you want

[tracey]

"Teeee Veeee, Teeee, Veeee," she moans like a zombie.
You want to read my policy?
Click on this-
http://maypapers.blogspot.com/2006/05/some-kind-of-family.html

[Sahara]

I had every intention of not allowing our child to watch TV, at least for the first year... until the NHL playoffs started! My husband is such a sports nut, however, that there's no way he would give up watching the game. This means that the Jellybean now knows that there's a glowing box in the room and she cranks her head around to watch whenever it's on. Sigh. It's a slippery slope, and I'm scrabbling to hold on to the ledge and not end up having a Disney/Treehouse/ESPN addicted baby!

[owlhaven]

My 4 and 8 year olds watch an hour of PBS in the morning, and a video probably 3 days a week....oh, and our whole family watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition on Sunday evenings.

My teenagers (I just realized) watch almost no tv. They've outgrown most of the PBS stuff and we haven't found much else worth watching on TV most days. (We don't have cable or satellite tv so that limits our options.)

My one year old is not very interested in TV. She kinda half-way watches Clifford every morning while playing, but that's it for her.

Mary, mom to many

[Paula]

My 16th month Impling doesn't watch TV.
There are many reasons. Like Kristin, I have the spectre of AAP in my mind, backed up by reading about horrible sixteen year olds having birthday parties that would cost more than my annual salary. And 4 year olds going for a relaxing day at the spa. EXCUSE ME? Relaxing FROM WHAT? So no tv. Overprotective? Perhaps. Glutton for punishment? Definitely.

So there's the Impling Zone. This is the part of the apartment she has free reign in. Unfortunately for her, the TV doesn't happen to be in the Zone. Good for us. It means our DVD player will work for a while longer. So no access until she's old enough to know not to lick it or put Animal Crackers in with the DVDs. Which is a nightmare that happened to a friend of mine.

So far, so good. She manages to entertain herself while I take a shower, and with a little inspiration, will play while I write Blog comments. Between the Hub and myself we've managed pretty well. Though Sweet Monkey Jesus it's SO tempting to slap in a Disney DVD and just see what happens. Especially in the evening when the Crankiness starts.

I don't have 2 peanuts to deal with, so that definitely makes things simpler. That and the fact that most nights I'm only cooking for the two of us, as the Hub doesn't get back from his hell of a job until he's put in at least 12 hours. (Better than the 16 to 36 he was pulling first year, though).

So while it's working for me, in a different situation, I could totally see myself sitting down with her and wasting an entire rainy day watching Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.

As it is, the only way we'll be watching tv anytime soon is if we break down and subscribe for the two months of the World Cup. Which is sounding pretty damn good right now.

[Melissa]

I have to limit Maya, only because she will sit inches away in a trance whenever the dam thing is on. But mine are in day care all day, so they don't see much of it. They watch more movies than real TV. And then mostly on the weekend mornings. Yes, so I can sleep a bit longer. I will always limit it, but I don't really care if my kids watch TV. They have a kagillion movies. So did I as a kid.

[Dawn]

I was SOOOO anti-TV. Until I became a parent. Now, I'm all "Don't you WANT to watch TV? Mommy isn't ready to greet the day at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday."

The best thing, though is that when Emily is away from me, she informs others of what TV is appropriate or inappropriate. At her Detroit Grandparents, for instance. Loudly.

[GraceD]

Since she was five, my kiddo Molly has been placed in rigorous academic programs both in her private and public schools (yes, in public schools! that's right! go public schools!) The curriculum was and continues to be demanding, requiring 2-3 hours of homework a night. Because of these rigors, and because Moll is underage and can't chill out with a frosty bottle of a good pilsner, I let her watch as much TV as she wants, as long as her homework is done to satisfaction.

I figure that since I grew up watching inane baby boomer stuff like Mr. Ed, The Talking Horse, and I ended up as a good citizen and a relatively happy soul, then TV is not going to hurt the kiddo.

[mothergoosemouse]

TV is sometimes used to occupy Tacy (such as when I'm putting CJ to bed and Kyle's not yet home from work), but mostly it's used as snuggle time. We all sit all over each other on the sofa and watch SpongeBob or Max and Ruby or a Pixar film or Free to Be You and Me.

But there are definitely times when I want to throw the damn thing out the window. So I just turn it off and announce that it is time to color or dance or play Candyland or draw with sidewalk chalk. It's not because I'm worried that TV is rotting their little brains. It's because I need a break from the TV myself.

(Mary Tsao also did a great post on this topic in the BlogHer Mommy/Family forum.)

[Emmie (Better Make It A Double)]

I am not a hard-time giver, but I do not let my 14-month old twins watch tv. Personally, I don't want to get in the habit and will follow the AAP's recomendations on this (no TV before 2). It's not even the TV itself that concerns me, it's what they're nt doing instead. And, we do not own a TV. However, even though every mom I know does it differently and I have never, ever given any parent a hard time about that, I have been a. told that I should reconsider because "I need the break." (No, I do not, you do, and that's fine.)
b. my kids will be outcasts.
c. I can't protect them forever
d. they'll learn their letters and numbers "too late" without Sesame Street.
Umm, no. I just pick my battles on other things.

[Kristin]

I love the theory that "the TV should not be used as a babysitter"... because really, what the hell else do you use it for?

As I type this Eva is happily watching Little Einsteins on the Disney channel, patting her hands on her lap to help rocket fly and yelling, "blue one!" when they ask her which note is higher.

She watches a good hour of TV in the morning, and then, usually around 5, when I am getting dinner ready and her brothers are working on their homework, I pop in a Chinese dance video and she sings songs and prances about the living room in relative contentment.

[krista]

If it weren't for TV, I would never get to shower.