I get really frustrated when I leave my children with other people and they are constantly sitting my children down in front of the TV as soon as I leave. Honeybun can recite to me the entire plot lines of Disney movies I have never shown her (sometimes even the tiniest details that I only know because I saw the movie 100 times growing up). If I can go 5 days a week, by myself, 10+ hours a day without turning to TV entertainment, anyone who has my children for a few hours should be able to play/care for them easily without needing it either. I know Honeybun asks for TV when I’m gone but it’s not really that hard to say “no” to her. If I remind her she doesn’t need to watch TV while I’m gone, she’ll tell the caregiver when we see them and she is also usually very amenable to doing something else, so long as the adult is engaged with her.
TV is what I call my “mommy magic”. I rarely let my girls watch “kids” shows. When we do watch TV, it is usually travel and history shows about places we’ve been and even those are reserved for small doses between nap time and dinner making time and not every day. I also sometimes let Sugarplum watch dance videos in the morning (she often requests to see mommy dancing) but she doesn’t watch very long. I don’t limit TV because I’m firmly against watching in general (though I don’t think it’s necessary and provides no developmental value even though many children’s programs are marketed as such), it’s because of the magical powers TV possesses.
For me, Kid’s TV is a magical thing that sucks my children in and causes them to become silent statutes as long as the show is on. On a daily basis, I try to avoid such brain sucking power BUT there are rare times (like once every few months rare) when I really need to get things done and I need my children to sit quietly and out of trouble for a length of time. TV provides that time for me and I know the more often they are exposed to Kid’s TV the less magical it will be and then I will have NOTHING to rely on for my necessary quiet time until they are big enough for video games!
