Letting Your Kids Watch TV So You Can Work
Here`s a nice controversial topic for you . . . do you let your children watch television so you can work?
First of all, I do let my kids watch TV, but not just any TV. They are allowed to watch DVDs. Some of the DVDs that we own are actually television shows, but by watching them on a DVD, my children can watch their favorite shows (like High 5) without commercials and I control just how much they can watch.
Television, no matter how supervised, isn`t a good way to keep kids quiet all day so you can work, but personally, I don`t see anything wrong with using it from time to time, even on a daily basis. However, you will likely want to encourage other activities as well.
How do you make television less of a bad thing? Here are a few ideas.
- Encourage active viewing. This can be done by getting kids to perform actions, get dressed up for their favorite show, or dance to the music.
- Choose your videos carefully. Rather than picking mindless junk that your children love to watch (thinking Teletubbies here . . . ) go for shows that encourage something . . . High Five, Art Attack, etc.
- Opt for good movies. Not all movies are suitable for children, despite the G rating, unfortunately. There are some Disney movies that I really don`t want my boys watching just yet, like the Lion King. You will have your own opinion on what is suitable and what is not, of course.
- Set a limit. In an ideal world, there would be a limit to TV time. I have to admit that there are days when my boys watch nothing at all and others when they will watch two entire movies. However, it is a good idea to set a limit on daily viewing . . . you can make an exception for something special like the Olympics.
I personally grew up without television. We didn`t have a TV until I was 16 and it was only for videos. While this was definitely good for me, I don`t see that watching well-chosen movies or shows is a bad thing for my boys. In fact, since I live in Guatemala, the only place they pick up English (besides myself) is from videos and it has helped their language development quite a bit.
What are your views on letting your children watch television? Are you a strict mom who makes sure they have other things to do while you work or do you tend to lean to the other side and let them watch to their heart`s content? Let`s keep judgments friendly, please!
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We have a TiVo, which gives us some good control over what the kids watch too. There are still commercials, but they ask for television less often because they know they can watch their favorite shows any time. Where my daughter used to come home from school and want to watch TV right away, now she often runs straight out to the back yard to play with her brother.
My baby is already entranced by the TV whenever it’s on. There’s a big part of me that wants to chuck the television out the window and never look back, but there’s another part of me that realizes that there are bigger things to stress over. Sometimes people don’t need to be active participants. Sometimes a little mind candy is meaningless when compared to everything else.
That’s a good idea. Letting your children watch TV, you may have much time to do your housework. I think the best program for them is carton.