I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but is it just me or is May/June a crazy busy time of year for everybody? I am currently feeling guilty for blogging instead of five other urgent things that need to get done - let alone that I want to be in bed too! We had a fun family outing the other day that Sydney just can't stop talking about!
We got to go for a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine! It was just a short little ride on the Heber Valley Railroad, but Sydney was thrilled! We live right next to some railroad tracks, and most days we hear at least four or five trains go by. Sydney will often start talking about how Thomas is giving rides to some of his other friends. That is how we explained why Thomas was gone again when we were leaving the Heber train station to come home.
To you other parents out there, I pose a question. What is a good length of time to allow your children to watch T.V. a day? Sydney loves watching hours upon hours of TV, and I have been justifying it lately because it gives me a little free time to get my things done (cleaning, etc). I am worried that I am teaching her bad habits of watching too much TV. I'm thinking of putting a 4 hour time limit on for her. Is that too much, or too extreme in my expectations for a 2 year old?
5 comments:
Cute!! I wonder if they have anything like that near us.
Yes May/June is crazy as everyone is fitting in end of the school year stuff and start of summer stuff. (similar to Nov/Dec).
Everything I've read said 2 hours a day, maximum, is what kids should watch. I think it varies with weather, illness and of course pregnancy (Emma's already on her second movie today). I think the big question is what do you do during the rest of the time, you know?
There's probably some other days where she watches no TV. 4 hours is a lot, but still reasonable and Xac watches that much, I am sure. I checked out a cassette recorder from the library so he could read along with his books. He was very excited and broke the recorder the first day.
I cut myself some slack though if he's watching something educational like Letter Factory or Signing Time. Letter Factory has a game at the end and he prefers learning his letters to watching 'The Bee Movie' for the 549th time. Sometimes while I clean and he watches Letter Factory or Word Factory I encourage him to say words and such.
My biggest concern is content. I don't want Xac watching something scary or overly violent, and I have outlawed Shrek because he has terrible manners and I find the show obnoxious. I think I have to make up for it though when he is not in front of the TV and try to stimulate his brain.
When Xac was two we took the TV out of his room because he was sitting there all day watching movie after movie. It kind of scared me but for a while there I went with it so I could finish my online classes.
Well, since I don't have a lot to say...
It depends on the day. Sometimes I have bad days and Brynn watches more than usual. Then I'll have a good day and Brynn watches none. When I was pregnant with Mia, I fell in love with cartoon network. For her, not me. It didn't matter what it was, she loved cartoons. If figure Scooby Doo can't do too much harm. I had to block it once the baby came so she wouldn't watch so much. I try not to give myself guilt trips about the bad days. I wish she watched less sometimes, and I usually try pretty hard. It's easier when I have the energy to entertain her myself!
I echo the words of those comments before me. Unfortunately, I have the misfortune of my kids being in Day care. I know they watch a lot there & G-ma's & yet they still want to watch it when they get home. I too being tired give in. However, w/spring & summer here it's easier to distract them from the T.V. Parker is very jealous of the Tomas outing. He LOVES trains!
I also kind of figure if they can't watch it at home, they might go to a friend's house to watch it. At least at home I can monitor what they're watching and try to instill some values.
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