Sesame Street, Or A Walk Down The Street?

I grew up watching TV, like almost everyone else I know.  Rainbow Bright, Popples, Shera, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Dark Wing Duck, Three's Company, Who's The Boss....just to name a few of my favorites growing up.  My mom and I used to watch Gilmore Girls together every week.  I have always loved watching television!

Along my way, a couple things have changed my amount of viewing hours.  Growing up, if I wasn't watching TV, or I didn't have a friend available to hang out with (especially in my teen years)...I didn't know what to do with myself.  In my teenage years, and even college years, my mom used to tell me, "Beth, you need to have a hobby.  Something you can do by yourself.  You need to be able to entertain yourself."  She would tell me the story about when she was little, growing up on the farm, and she would play with her 13 cats.  She had one that would let her dress it up like a doll.  (Poor cat!)  But she lived too far away to always have someone to play with...so she had to learn to entertain herself.

In other words, I need to learn how to be happy just being with myself.  Hmmm, that sounds boring!  I was never able to really attain that goal, until I was pregnant and had the house to myself all day.  I started doing lots of reading, and house cleaning, and sometimes I would just sit and think, and be perfectly happy doing it!  For the first time in my life, I didn't need television, or any other outside source to make me happy.  I was happy in my own company!  (Only took me 28 years to figure it out!)

After my mother passed away in 2003, I realized how many things I still needed to learn from her, and that I had so many unanswered questions!  One of the biggies is that she would always try to get me to come into the kitchen while she was cooking, so that I could learn how to do it myself.  I was never interested in taking her up on the offer, because I was always busy watching some TV program that was so important at the time.  Do I even remember what I was watching?  Nope, it obviously wasn't that important!  I always thought I had more time...that I would take a cooking lesson from her later.  Always later!  But that later never came, and I missed out!

I do still watch some TV, don't get me wrong!  But, every time I turn a program on, I hear my dad's voice say, "Will watching this program be the best use of your time?  Will it significantly benefit your life today?"  Yep, 29 years old, and I still hear my dad in my head lecturing me about my TV programs!  LOL  But it's true...I make different choices in what I watch now.  I do not just flip channels to see what is on because I am bored.  I no longer waste my time on programs that are not important to me.  I Tivo the programs that are most important, and watch those if I get the chance.  My life does not revolve around the TV anymore, or what is on it, it's amazing!  I spend so much more of my time reading (and blogging) now.  :)

When Kyle was born, Josh and I decided that we would limit our TV watching.  We decided that it was important to focus on Kyle and not our silly TV programs.  We started only watching TV at night, after Kyle went to sleep.  I do not watch any television during the day at all.  I haven't for 15 months (since Kyle was a baby)...aren't you so impressed??!!!  I am!  It was an adjustment for me, for sure!  In fact, we don't even have a TV in our living room anymore.  It is unplugged and stored in our office right now.  Kyle never watches TV, and I don't watch during the day when he is awake...so why not turn the living room into a play room, since that's all we do in there anyway?  Josh and I do have a TV in our bedroom...so after Kyle does to bed at night, we will sometimes watch some Tivo, or a DVD in there.

I've done a little reading about television and children.  One of the concerns with children watching television is the possibility of ADD and ADHD.  The biggest concern about letting your baby watch television, is that most of the time that means that the parents are not engaging meaningfully with their children.  It takes away from the experience of interacting and learning from a real person vs. a television program.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of 2 not watch television, and limited television for older children.

The AAP has the following very clear position on kids/babies and television:

“Children of all ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain. During this time, children need good, positive interaction with other children and adults. Too much television can negatively affect early brain development. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important.

Until more research is done about the effects of TV on very young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or younger. For older children, the Academy recommends no more than 1 to 2 hours per day of educational, nonviolent programs. “

I believe that my time is better spent playing with Kyle, helping him explore and learn how to navigate in this world.  :)  Sure, there have been times when I thought, boy it would be nice to just have a few minutes... But, I have never done it.  I've never actually used the TV as a babysitter.  I am shocked, because before I had Kyle I never thought I would feel this way about my kid watching television.  I grew up watching TV!  So weird!

In fact, if I was to try to use TV to distract him for a few minutes, it would fail...Kyle doesn't seem to have any interest in watching TV!  I used to let him watch about 5 minutes of Sesame Street while I cut his nails.  But, I usually only got a successful 2 minutes out of him before he was off and running!  He just has no interest in sitting there long enough to watch.  Maybe since he doesn't watch television he won't get brainwashed by all the commercials of all the toys he has to have!  LOL

Kyle would rather be off exploring new things, or playing outside... which is fine with me!  In the long run, I'm sure it's more healthy for him.  It's definitely a lot more work for mommy, because that means that I have to entertain him all day long!  But, Kyle is a happy (and very busy) little guy, and I think it's all worth it in the end.  I just hope we can keep it up as he gets older!  Instead of Sesame Street, we take Kyle for walks around the neighborhood in his little blue car.  He LOVES this car!!!  :)

Thanks mom, for the hard lesson that I had to learn on my own.  Maybe now Kyle will have more time with his parents, learning things and engaging with family activities!  I am learning how to navigate in this life, and you are my #1 example.  I hope to be just as wonderful of a mother to Kyle as you were to me!  I love you, and I miss you!