It's true, my kids definitely watch more t.v. than they should. I'm not even going to sugar coat that one. But, I also don't care....for several reasons.
First, there's the obvious....t.v. is a great baby-sitter. Yep, I said it. As someone who spends 24/7 with my kids, I can only entertain them for so long and I have plenty of things to get done during the day that require my kids to leave me alone. My #1 priority is my kids, sure, but this doesn't mean play with them the entire day. To be a good mom, I need to make sure they have clean clothes, clean sheets, clean bathroom, meals, snacks, etc. It's also important for me to have a little time to myself for things like showering, exercising, writing grocery list, etc. As I am awake about the same amount of hours as my kids (well Rylee anyway as she does not nap), this means that many of these things have to get done while the kids are up, and sometimes plopping them in front of the t.v. is the most effective way for me to have them in one spot while I get a few things done. I can get a lot of tasks completed before an episode of Sesame Street is over!
Second, Rylee learns SO MUCH from watching t.v. This might sound crazy, but it's so true. I am completely dumbfounded (never used that word before) when Rylee teaches me about something she learned from t.v. A few examples of this:
*One day we were in the car and I was teaching her about words that rhyme. After I mentioned 2 words, she said, "Those are synonyms". WHAT?!?!?! After cleaning my ears out to make sure I really heard her say what I thought she said, I asked her to repeat herself. "They are synonyms, Mom. They are the same thing". Holy crap. I asked her where she learned that and she told me the name of a show she watches.
*She asked me why the sun moves and when I was thinking about how to answer that I asked her if she knew what a planet was (assuming she did not)....she said, "Yes, planets are in outerspace, just like the sun." WHAT?!?!?! "Where did you learn about that??", I asked her. Again, she named another show.
*She informed me that the hole in her blankie needed patched, just like the way The Cat in the Hat patched a hole in his shirt yesterday.
*At the dinner table one day she started teaching me all about recycling, out of the blue. When I asked if Daddy taught her that, she told me that she had learned about it on Daniel Tiger. (As I just asked her which show that was so I could type it in, she told me, "and mom, recycling means to turn something old into something new")
* We watched an episode of Sesame Street last week that talked about levers, and forks were an example they gave of a lever. At lunch that day Rylee showed me how and why her fork is a lever. I was impressed!
*My favorite... she sings a song about why it's good to try new foods (that she learned from a show), and she encourages her brother to try new foods....BUT she has ZERO intentions of trying something new on her plate :) This is also the case with the "clean-up" song....of course.
*The day she took 2 pan lids and banged them together as an instrument, she told me, "mom these are my cymbals". I asked where she learned about them and she said, "Daniel Tiger".
*During our craft time a few days ago she made a spider with pipe cleaners and told me it needed to have 8 legs. I asked how she knew that...."Sesame Street"
*Yesterday she was helping me organize the pantry and handed me the tomato juice and said, "Mom, we need to keep this tomato juice in case we get sprayed by a skunk, because that's how you get rid of the smell". UM.....WHAT?!?!?! How the HECK do you know that?!?!?!?! "Learned it on Curious George."
Rylee also uses so many words, and mostly in the right context, that she tells me she learned from her shows. But why is this important to me? Can't I teach her all these things? James and I try to teach our kids new things each day and make every moment a learning opportunity. I will admit James is much better at this than I am. But, as the kids and I are only exposed to a limited number of things each day, it's hard for me to think of something random to teach them about.....like when would I use the word 'synonym' in every day conversation, or think to tell her how we get rid of skunk smell?? When the kids watch t.v. they are exposed to so many more things than they would be if we never turned it on (at least in my house anyway). I will never forget the first time Rylee taught us about something she learned on t.v.......she saw someone's fake palm tree in their yard and said, "Look! A palm tree!" We live in Iowa...when would we ever have had the opportunity to point out a palm tree?? (besides that fake one). Thanks to Dora the Explorer, Rylee knew what it was. We were shocked...she was barely 2 years old!
We do not have cable (well, just the regular twenty-some channels), so the only shows my kids watch are the ones on PBS Kids, which quite honestly, I find pretty educational...sometimes I even learn something new! I could live without Caillou and Peg+Cat though...Rylee was not amused at her daddy making fun of Caillou last night....I found it hilarious though....probably a poor teaching moment, whoops.
To be clear, my kids do also have play time where the t.v. is off and they are forced to find something to keep themselves occupied with. Sometimes it's Rylee reading to Wyatt, both of them playing with his trucks, Rylee dressing him up as a princess....but MOST times this is when they make the biggest mess in our house by taking bowls out of cupboards, clothes out of drawers, rearranging furniture to build forts, etc. This is another reason I like t.v. time....no mess is made! I realize that a messy house is the sign of a good day for the kids though. When I complain about the messes Wyatt makes, my dad says, "sounds like he is having a good day." But when I'm trying to clean the house, a mess is the last thing I want....maybe I just shouldn't ever clean...hmmm...liking this the more I think about it....
Rylee also has a great imagination and loves to play "pretend". I'm always amazed at how much detail she puts into her pretend play and I can only assume she learns it from her shows. I will listen to her talk to herself and the stories she makes up are pretty incredible!
In addition to watching t.v. and having "free play" time, we also read books, play games, do puzzles, chase each other around the house, bake, paint, color, practice writing letters, etc. But even in a day where we do all of those things, plus go to library story time or play group, there is still always plenty of t.v. time. It's just part of our day, and probably always will be. It helps keep me sane and calm the kids down when needed. Young kids are such little sponges, and the more they can be exposed to, the better. If we aren't doing anything particular to cultivate their learning, and they ask for it, I will turn the t.v. on for them. Will I regret it some day? Maybe. But for now, I don't see anything negative about it, so long as we are getting in plenty of other educational and developmental activities too. And besides, if there were ever a PBS Kids Show Quiz Bowl....Rylee would bring home the trophy, no doubt...I'm just prepping her for that :)
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