Looking at TV

All those smarty-pants American Academy of Pediatrics people who say that children under 2 should Never, No Never Watch One Single Moment of TV, EVER, can kiss my butt. How can kids these days avoid it? AJ watches his shows, and he gets smarter every day. And to all the mouths from whom the phrase "As long as you don't use it as a babysitter" drips judgmentally, I say: Hogwash. If it keeps him occupied for 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch, and I'm trying to get my work done, then that Babysitter is Hired.

I've been thinking about it (because I Worry, you know, about Things) -- if we were the "TV generation," then what are our kids going to be? It's only gotten more prevalent, with more channels and more TVs in every home they'll ever visit. I think about my TV childhood, because despite my mother's best intentions, we watched a good bit of TV. Not 24 hours a day, mind you, but I think she probably got to a point where she just quit fighting it -- because you just can't win. The force of its pull is too great. I see it already, that big glowing Eye looking at AJ saying, "Come here, my child. I'm fascinating and I'm going to gently eat your brain cells, and you're going to slip into a daze and you'll kinda like it. Mwahahahahahaaaa."

I know it can be a setup for lazy habits later, but he still likes to run around - A LOT - so I'm not worried at this point about the deadly sin of Sloth. And believe me, I won't allow it when we reach school age and tween-dom. I fully intend to enforce rules about when and what to watch, and Praise God for the V-Chip. No TVs in Kids' Rooms, Ever. And I SO will encourage TV Turnoff Week. I think it's a fabulous idea. In fact, I bet my kid(s) won't protest as much as my Husband and I will, after they've gone to bed! An exercise in patience and discipline.

Anyway, I've accepted that he's going to watch. I can't stop him. I actually love some of the shows we let him see. Little Einsteins is great for the music and art. Higglytown Heroes shows that everyone is important. Bob the Builder throws in little environmental lessons here and there. And the half-hour Barney episode at 3:30pm saves my life some days. I don't think it's going to kill him.