I finally got slapped in the face Monday after reading Drea's blog post How much TV Do you kids watch. I've been saying for a very long time to myself, and to Kurt that I wasn't going to let Landen watch as much television during the day. I just hadn't done it, it's so easy to just turn on PBS, Little Bear (his favorite), or a DVD and let him watch while I get things done, or take a time out for some me time. I knew it wasn't what I wanted to be doing as a mother, but it was just so easy.
After reading Drea's post I said to myself - "Today is the end, I'm not going to do this anymore." I got off the computer, went into the living room and turned the TV off. I thought he'd throw a fit or something, but that didn't happen. He didn't care a bit, he was off to playing with one of his many toys that were down stairs, strewed about the living room, ready to be tripped over for the hundredth time by his mother. That all happened Monday, today is Thursday. It's actually been going really well, but we have been busier than usual this week, all of our activities are starting up again and it's been so fall like we've been spending more time outdoors as well. I'm going to be honest here though. . . we had the TV on constantly. I kept making the excuse of, "I need a little noise." What the heck, I have a two year old running around, that is noise.
We do have it on for noise once in awhile, but it's the music channels (not music video's because I'd start watching) but that gives us a little bit of a tune around the house and we like to stop and do some dancing every once in awhile as well. =) Haha!
I also want to throw in that I'm not trying to say that we aren't going to watch TV during the day anymore. I just don't want him to be staring at it all the time. He has many toys to play with, books to read and a mom who is here to play with him. My vocation is to be a mother, not a lazy mom who ignores her children. =D I do still turn on a DVD for a little down time, and Landen has been falling asleep within twenty minutes of starting it. I haven't quite figured out how to get him to take a nap without watching something together. Any suggestions?
So that's been our project, experiment, whatever for this week. I'm pretty proud of Landen and I that we are accomplishing this so well. Hopefully the weeks to follow will go as well.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
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(Another comment from me!! I'm finally catching up on your blog so you're getting bombarded tonight!)
I go back and forth on this topic--I've read all of the statistics and felt the guilt--I've lectured Andy and changed my mind a million times. Right now, the way I feel is this: I totally think it depends on WHAT the kids are watching and I monitor this very closely. My son is really, REALLY articulate and knows soooo many things. He can speak some Spanish, count to twenty--he's a genius with colors, recognizes letters and can say the alphabet. He can tell you the names of tons of dinosaurs and tell you what era they lived in and what they ate, etc. He can tell you all about any animal (literally hundreds!) and where they live (polar region, etc)...he knows about planets and can name most of the instruments in an orchestra--I could go on and on---And he learned sooooo much of that from the t.v./dvds. We show him alot of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. We take him to the library and go with a theme (like dinosaurs--since he's obsessed lately)--we get a huge pile of books and dvds that go along with the theme and spend the next few weeks letting him learn. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or that I think my way is best, but tv seems to help us be better parents in a way. You just can't sit them in front of sponge bob or the power rangers or leave the tv on all day long with no other activity.
Sorry so long--I'll stop now--It's just where I am today--And it could change tomorrow :o) Let me know more about this subject by e-mail :o)
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