We are TV-aholics. It is all my fault. Before I met Dave (and up to when we moved in together) he rarely watched TV. Now he turns it on the second we get in the door and rarely chooses to turn it off. My daughter is addicted to her "Signing Time" DVDs (educational, but still) and often spaces out to the TV during the day.
I grew up with the TV as my babysitter. Sad but true. I remember as a child always wanting to be like the characters in the shows and movies I watched. Perhaps to escape my tumultuous childhood. I was never satisfied with being myself. And I never learned how to play creatively. Sure, I remember playing "secret garden" in my grandmother's rose garden, but that is it. Seriously.
I do not want my children growing up the same way. When I was pregnant with Mady I vowed that I would stop having the TV on for background noise. Then she was born and taking 45 minutes to breastfeed. As much as I loved gazing at her, it was boring doing that for so long and the silence drove me insane. I needed the TV to distract me from the pain and exhaustion that accompanied those first few months of her life. And what better to do when up late at night feeding a baby but watch old TV shows?
Well things haven't changed even though I have vowed over and over to change our habits. I was doing really well for a couple of months when she was a year old, but we fell off the wagon.
I would like to try, REALLY try for a week to ONLY watch new TV shows (most of what I watch is reruns - often the Golden Girls). I'd still let Mady watch her "Signing Time" twice a day, and I'd be allowed to watch 1 movie. At least that way if Mady was awake while I was watching, she wouldn't be exposed to the commercials. We have music channels with our cable package so that's likely how we'd cut through the silence.
I just need some encouragement to take this step. I'm only committing to a week for now so that it seems more doable. I would post updates on our progress every couple of days, with how we are filling our time, etc.
How do you fill your day with your toddler?
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#1 does watch some TV but I don't watch it throughout the day. We play puzzles, read books, build with blocks and then he'll help me clean, load dishes, do laundry. We also go outside when the weather is nice. We bake. The days actually go by very quickly. We occasionally turn on music but I tend to like the quiet. Too much background noise gets to me. The Hubs and I do watch TV at night and movies on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteOh and good for you! =D
ReplyDeleteYay for cutting down TV. We went cable & network TV free awhile ago, and I was very nervous about it. Honestly, it's been very nice. I still watch a few things on Hulu, but other than that, I can definitely say the TV addiction is over. This from someone who had loads of cooking & TLC shows on Tivo to watch whenever the mood struck. Once you take the step, it really isn't that bad!!
ReplyDeleteTurn on the radio instead - we have that on quite a bit, and DS loves it - it's something that creates some background noise but doesn't distract from whatever else we may be doing.
Good luck - fabulous idea!!