T.V.

[Gwendolyn]

DH comes from a very T.V. friendly family...they have the T.V. on constantly!! When ever we have company I have to explain to my husband why it is rude to have the television on. He is on vacation this week, studying for Step 3. It is only Monday and he and our son have watched a ridiculous amount of TV. together (they both love animated features )

So, honestly...I promise no judgment...about how much T.V. do your children watch?

[PrincessFiona]

Caitlen,

The real problem in our house isn't really the TV anymore..it's the 'technology'. I regret nothing more than our 'gameboy' and 'kid's computer' purchases over the years. really. It's reached such a feverish pitch that dh and I have decided to remove the kid's access the computer and games during the school week.

We also realize that this is...our fault. Beyond the actual purchasing of these items, we, too, spend waaaaay too much time online or doing non-interactive things. It's something we've decided to change asap.

kris

[Sheherezade]

Up to 2 hours a day (a movie)....but mostly none at all . Our nemesis is computer time and video game time. Sometimes, my son could be on the computer ALL day, provided his homework is done, his chores are done and he's done something active that day. My daughter hates video so she isn't a problem at all - no computer, no XBOX, no gameboy, no TV. At least sibling rivalry has helped me on this point. I have to con her in to watching a single Dragontales story when she's overtired in the afternoon.

It depends on the day. Snow day or rain day means more, like 3 hours, sometimes its just 15 min while I get supper ready.

We have reinstanted the no tv before school rule. Came close to missing the bus from whining about having to shut it off.

I am so glad we haven't gotten into the gameboy thing. Tim will play on PBS or Scholastic sites, or our Zoo game.

We have ultra mega basic cable and the PBS station is messed up so its mostly videos. We wouldn't even have cable except for its costing only $7 more than plain internet access.

I much prefer listening to WPR/NPR all day than the tv...freaking wasteland daytime tv is.

DH and I watch maybe about 3 hours of TV a week. We tivo our favorite shows and then have a date night once a week where we catch up on everything. I'm not too keen on letting Andrew watch tv so the only thing he watches are his Signing Time dvds about 2x a week...and he watches them only for about 15 minutes before he loses interest.

I grew up in a tv household (my dad is a huge movie buff....I think he owns literally every movie that has been released on dvd .) Growing up, the tv was on every single night during dinner and my dad was glued to the tv while the rest of us tried to ignore it and carry on a conversation....I think my dad missed out on a lot because of this; hence our decision to limit tv use in our home. The weird thing, though, is that my dad practically begs me to allow Andrew to watch tv and, when we visit my parents, he'll put in a dvd for Andrew to watch whenever I leave the two of them alone together. I've tried to explain to my dad why I feel the way I do about tv, but he just doesn't get it.

The computer & video games scare me and I have no idea how I will handle those when Andrew gets older. He loves the outdoors so I'm hoping he will put his energy into playing outside. I do think that some video game and computer use can be beneficial...I just never want Andrew to get so addicted that he gets that "zombie" look.

[mommax3]

During the week for the older two, their tech/tv time is limited to 45 min. a day, which really isn't too hard because between school, homework, and sports, they don't have much more time than that anyway, and most days, they don't use up their time. In the summer it will be different!

On days that my four year old doesn't have school, he probably gets his two hours in easy between his V-Smile, the GameCube (he is a Donkey Konga fanatic) and tv. I have to watch it with him, honestly, because he can entertain himself literally all day between those three things. So I try to intersperse it with "play in your room" time, where there is no technology to be had, and that goes over pretty well. I just have to make myself do it!

Having said all that......last week, we were all sick and there was a LOT of tv watching going on here! I justified it because the Olympics were on and that was mostly what they were watching....

Sally

[DCJenn]

Very little to none because there's so little that I want to watch.

If I can remember when elmo is on, he might watch the Elmo part of Sesame Street but that's about it. In the evening, I'll turn on Oprah and then the news but he's not at all interested in watching it, so he'll play with his toys.

My husband on the other hand, is a total TV addict, along with computer games and online research. so, when he is home there's always something blaring in the background. I have gotten him to realize that having it on during dinner is maddening so now he'll turn it off before we sit. I also have had to remind him that Saturday afternoon movies aren't the kind of things we want our 2 year old watching in the first place.

Nikolai had no exposure to TV in Russia and seems to have no interest in it here. Luckily.

Jenn

[SueC]

Well, the girls are watching a princess movie in their room and Mitchell is watching a Thomas the Tank Engine movie in the living room . How's that for great parenting?
My kids probably watch 30 minutes or so of cartoons in the morning (more if they happen to get up early and we are ready in time, usually we are pushing it to get out the door). The rest of the day kind of depends--if Sydney is home and Mitchell is napping, I generally put a movie on for her, then when Maya gets home they might watch a couple more cartoons. After dinner, we sometimes all watch a movie together, so that would bring our total to 3-4 hours, too much IMO. Mitchell is becoming a little TV addict, so we are starting to try to limit his TV a little more. I'm hoping now that it is getting nice out again (at least it is today) that I'll rely on the TV a little less than I've been doing.

[HeartRN]

30min-an hour a day max, unless she is sick....the only time I ever turn it on with her is when I take a shower and get ready in the am...sometimes she asks, but then she doesn't watch, so off it goes, and she's fine with that most days. I feel really lucky that she isn't very "engaged" when it comes to TV, although she does have her favorites.

[houseelf]

OMG. If I had to critique my parenting and state my worst habit, it would be this. I'm bothered by it and plan to deal with it as soon as the weather lightens a little. We have been on a Elmo and Video game binge for a couple weeks now. Sadly, I always envisioned a tech and tv free childhood for my kids.

Fortunately, when DD enters the toddler program at DS's school this fall, there will be NO TV at school for the five days a week they are in school. (Yes, I expect my childcare provider to adhere to standards which I don't meet. ). Further, I love Montessori in theory, I just can't pull it off at home.

In my defense, this time of year is the WORST for us. (February in Minnesota with lots of sickness and seriously single parenting). This week while visiting Ohio, my mom just suckered me into allowing her to buy a Gameboy for my 6 y.o. even though I was against it. Argh. She can be an indulgent grandparent. Fortunately, she was smart enough to gift it to ME, telling DS that if he didn't adhere to my rules I was to pack it up and mail it back to her. I think that when we get home, I'll only allow him to play it on the weekends when he has had a good week. Fight now we're at the relatively toy free grandparents house with his brand new game boy. He has become one with the screen.

Kelly

we watch too much. I rationalize it by noticing all of the things they learn from Noggin, and then I cringe at things they learn from Nick Jr. (especially commercials).

dh says "I grew up in a t.v. household and I'm fine." which is his way of saying that he has no interest in changing. my kids will always choose playing outdoors over t.v. or playing on the computer, so I still think we're headed in the right direction.