Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Who's the bad guy here?

I've gotta vent here, ladies. I just want to say that I'm a little tired of being the bad guy when it comes to tv watching in this house. I remember when I was pregnant with Bean that the subject of little kids and tv came up. Husband was totally against little kids watching anything at all. I remember this because my response was something along the lines of, "Yeah, well I WILL be allowing some tv since I'm the one who's going to be staying at home with her all day long!" Husband conceded that this seemed fair if I needed an occasional break. Emphasis on "occasional."

Now? Bean gets up in the morning and the first thing she wants is for the tv to be turned on. No breakfast, just tv. And Husband is happy to comply because he needs a little time to himself to make some coffee, get the computer fired up, and pee. All totally fine so far.

But lately, it's not just a couple episodes of "Curious George" we're talking about here. He'll frequently turn on movies for Bean, full-length Disney films that I have to turn off at some point to give Bean her breakfast. This morning it was The Little Mermaid and you should have seen the toddler wrath unleashed upon me when I told her it was time to turn it off! Oh. My. God. I had to kick her out onto the porch because her screams were reverberating inside the house and I had to turn down that noise, no matter what the sleeping neighbors might have thought.

Sigh. The thing is that I'm somewhat complicit in this routine because on mornings when Sister is at her dad's I sleep in. If I would just get my tired ass out of bed, I could help Husband deal with Bean so that he could still do what he needed but she wasn't permitted to get so engrossed in a lengthy screening of something or other.

Yeah, you think that's gonna happen?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

OH, I'm torn on this. There are times that I think kids NEED to watch TV, just so they will sit still and be quiet long enough while we actually take a shower, bath, eat, cook, fold clothes, check blogs, etc. When Ariana was about six months old, I found "Boo Bah". It was the ONLY 30 minutes of the day that I could take my shower without her screaming, or without her being in her swing in the bathroom with me, and me opening the curtain every few minutes so she knew I was still there.

So yea, while I agree they shouldn't watch a whole lot of TV, it sure does come in handy!

Angel said...

oh, I love me some tv, esp. Disney movies. I know it's bad....yada yada....but that was the ONLY time I ever had to pee!!! Without someone in there with me! Handing me a pad or some toilet paper!!

so...I don't hate on anyone who wants to turn on the tv...My grandbaby Joey watched "Nemo" when he was 4 months old, and he's still smart as all get out! and I mean he WATCHED that movie. He ahs always loved Nemo...

Piece of Work said...

We had the same problem which started when Isaac used to wake up at 5:15 am every morning for a year. We solved this by letting them watch an hour of Sesame Street in the morning so we could sleep just a little bit longer. But after a while--probably a year or more--it got to be such a problem because of the tantrums when I'd have to turn off the tv to get everyone ready for school. Eventually I made a "new house rule": no tv before breakfast on school days. They didn't like it at first but it actually took them a lot less time to adjust than I was expecting. And it makes the mornings SO much more enjoyable.

chris said...

I was adamantly opposed to TV with my first son, but I started noticing in my mother's group (this was when he was one or so) that some of the smartest kids were also the kids whose parents really didn't mind their kids watching television. Now, I'm not saying that TV helped them at all, but I think it didn't hurt them either. I talked to our ped about it (and I have the most laid-back, wonderful ped ever) and he just laughed and said his kids got PLENTY of television and they all turned out fine.

chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suzanne said...

I'm the TV cop, too. I let my kids watch a little each day, but I do impose time limits. And then my husband teases me for swooping in like a hawk to turn off the TV after the allotted time is over.

Amber said...

I'm torn here. My kids are old enough now that they'll come turn it on (or a movie on) without help. I feel like most days all I do is turn off the tv. But then again sometimes I've been known to say, 'just go watch tv and leave me alone!' I know, I'm a fabulous mom.

Joan said...

I never said "no tv". I had to babysit some kids like that when I was young and they were weird. When my kids were younger, I did let them watch tv while I was busy then once I was freed up I'd divert their attention to something else.
Now that the kids are school age we don't turn the tv on until the evening after homework.

Manhattan Mama said...

The Prince was not allowed to watch TV as a kid. I had a TV in my room as a child. I like watching TV and movies now more than he does -- and I ended up working in that field as an adult. Who knows the end result. For The Rabbit? We've let her watch TV, usually programs or movies we've Tivo'd and mostly from channels without commercials.

I don't watch adult TV around her, including news, although I am sure that will change as she gets older.

I guess I think this -- a Disney movie isn't going to be her undoing. Nor are some episodes of Sesame Street, Dora or Oswald. Sounds corny, but everything in moderation. Right? And I know you...you're a very involved mama, super crafty, creative and energetic. Some passive entertainment whipped up with some gardening, baking and all the other projects you guys do sounds like the best recipe to me.