Television Babysitter
As I sit here and blog, I have come to the realization that my kid watches too much TV. But does she really?
I have three teenage girls and a 2 year old girl. I often feel like I am imposing on the teenager's time if I ask them to watch their baby sister. Instead, I sit, stand or work in the same room while Avery (the two year old) watches TV. I raised the other 3 in the same way so the methodology is not new to me. Thanks to DVR, we can record certain shows that she can watch over and over...and over...and...over again. This is good for me because well, to be honest, I really can't sit there and play with her all day long. There are only so many times I can drink fake chocolate milk from a plastic cup and sit in a chair that is not wide enough for one butt cheek.
Television today is very different than in my day. I would often sit in my cowboy pajamas and watch Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. Today, there are so many childrens shows that offer so much. I still watch Sesame Street in my cowboy pajamas...with Avery of course.
There is also some real crap on TV for kids. I have to say Teletubbies is the biggest waste of brain cells. I have yet to figure out one lesson from ANY of their shows.
Here it snows and is cold half of the year. So, taking her outside during the winter is limited to and from the minivan (yes, minivan) for a trip to the mall playground. We do in fact play, but I would say at least 50% of my time with her is in front of the television watching d-d-d-d-Dora or Blue's Clues and most everything on Noggin.
I think it is not a bad thing. Why? Well, Avery has managed to learn her colors, counting, spelling and so forth not only in English but in Spanish. She does call every animal such as our male cat, "she" (Blue's Clues) but that is not a big deal and she will outgrow that.
This brings me to my point (as I always have one). Are kids today smarter because they are flooded with all kinds of different media such as computers, television, interactive play places? Can we attribute the increased diagnosis of ADD and ADHD to the increased flow of input to the brain and the children's inherit capability to learn? I have read many times that children learn the most during the first 4 years. Can their brains be wired to have more input devices and when they are presented with a single thread simple situation, they are staring off into the great blue thinking of quantum mechanics? Is this the evolution of the human? I say yes!
I say turn on your TV! Sit your child in the chair that is big enough for one butt cheek, break out the duct tape and make sure they watch TV! I want my children to think way above my level and be much smarter than me. I want them to win Nobel prizes in Spanish! I want them to invent a nursing home that I would enjoy living in when they throw me in it because they don't have time for me!
I have three teenage girls and a 2 year old girl. I often feel like I am imposing on the teenager's time if I ask them to watch their baby sister. Instead, I sit, stand or work in the same room while Avery (the two year old) watches TV. I raised the other 3 in the same way so the methodology is not new to me. Thanks to DVR, we can record certain shows that she can watch over and over...and over...and...over again. This is good for me because well, to be honest, I really can't sit there and play with her all day long. There are only so many times I can drink fake chocolate milk from a plastic cup and sit in a chair that is not wide enough for one butt cheek.
Television today is very different than in my day. I would often sit in my cowboy pajamas and watch Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. Today, there are so many childrens shows that offer so much. I still watch Sesame Street in my cowboy pajamas...with Avery of course.
There is also some real crap on TV for kids. I have to say Teletubbies is the biggest waste of brain cells. I have yet to figure out one lesson from ANY of their shows.
Here it snows and is cold half of the year. So, taking her outside during the winter is limited to and from the minivan (yes, minivan) for a trip to the mall playground. We do in fact play, but I would say at least 50% of my time with her is in front of the television watching d-d-d-d-Dora or Blue's Clues and most everything on Noggin.
I think it is not a bad thing. Why? Well, Avery has managed to learn her colors, counting, spelling and so forth not only in English but in Spanish. She does call every animal such as our male cat, "she" (Blue's Clues) but that is not a big deal and she will outgrow that.
This brings me to my point (as I always have one). Are kids today smarter because they are flooded with all kinds of different media such as computers, television, interactive play places? Can we attribute the increased diagnosis of ADD and ADHD to the increased flow of input to the brain and the children's inherit capability to learn? I have read many times that children learn the most during the first 4 years. Can their brains be wired to have more input devices and when they are presented with a single thread simple situation, they are staring off into the great blue thinking of quantum mechanics? Is this the evolution of the human? I say yes!
I say turn on your TV! Sit your child in the chair that is big enough for one butt cheek, break out the duct tape and make sure they watch TV! I want my children to think way above my level and be much smarter than me. I want them to win Nobel prizes in Spanish! I want them to invent a nursing home that I would enjoy living in when they throw me in it because they don't have time for me!
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