Friday, April 25, 2008

Did you know it was National TV Turnoff week ?... Yeah I don't care either.

That little factoid is something I never would have known were it not for my monthly parent meeting at the twins' preschool Wednesday night.

Uggh, it was probably the first meeting were I wanted to go all raging be-atch on them and say "listen, since the correlation between tv watching and serial killing has yet to be proven I'll take my chances with the kiddos watching a little boob tube now and then" but I held my tongue.

The preschool teacher , whom I normally think the sun rises and sets for, made it clear that she thinks tv is satan and refuses to entertain many arguments otherwise. I knew this about her but only that night did I find out why. She launched in to a story about how she'd become addicted to a soap opera several years ago and when her kids would come in to the room she'd shoo them away exclaiming "You're making me miss this". It was at that point,she said, that she realized the tv was running her life and that was unacceptable.

To which I say of course it's unacceptable, my kids are much more important then any television program and that I would never do anything like that.

Well, um, not since the advent of the DVR anyway...




Enjoy your weekends my lovelies and y'all come back next week y'hear as I may just have a little snacky kind of giveaway for you.

Smooches,
WM

18 comments:

Minnesota Girl said...

i'm not AGAINST tv by any means, but to be honest with you mine is almost never on. we watch the occasional movie but even that is pretty rare. the kids watch tv pretty much 24-7 when they are with their dad, so i figure it balances out. ; )

Ann(ie) said...

Ben's Dr. lectures me about that. And I'm really not thinking that when he's kicking back eating a graham cracker that 20 minutes of Sesame Street is gonna screw him up for life. So I have chosen to lie to the Dr. and tell him that we never turn the TV on at all and Matt reads to him while I knit. It's just win/win.
;)

Not Afraid to Use It said...

In this house, TV is our friend. I believe in everything in moderation. Too much of anything will fuck you up. But DVDs are my kids' language resource for their second language. Do they watch too much TV? Probably. As you so eloquently put it, will it turn them into serial killers? Highly doubtful.

Alex Elliot said...

You crack me up! I was thinking the exact same thing about the DVR. It's not that I think TV Turnoff week is a bad thing, but I just never have wanted to participate. I recently someone's post about how it was like crash dieting because after the week is over everything is the same. That comment summed up how I feel about it.

Anonymous said...

I used to think TV Turnoff was a fabulous idea, and then I had kids. I'm sorry, but sometimes mama is in need of a electronic babysitter. And it certainly has not done my kids any harm yet.

Queen of the Mayhem said...

Yeah.......the DVR has made me an infinitely more patient watcher.

Everything in moderation...that's what I say!

Queen of the Mayhem said...

DANG IT....should have read the comments first!

Better to watch a little tv than roam the streets unattended!

Nauntie Lush said...

Yeah the TV is on...but how many preschoolers really WATCH more than like 10 minutes of it straight?

And the DVR is like my new best friend. I can catch up on all my shows while he is at school.

If they did TV turn off week in a WARMER month I might be more inclined to participate. Heck if they made it the whole month of August I would be all for it. But April in Seattle. NOT ON YOUR LIFE SISTER.

The Laundress said...

Yeah, I don't care either...My TV is my savior in many ways.

Maureen said...

Well, it's like anything really. You have to use common sense and moderation. Just because she OD'd on soaps, she forbidding her children to watch? Sounds a extreme to me.

Claire said...

We heard the same lectures last week. I don't allow them to watch in excess (and on sunny, warm days, I'm the mom who's kicking them outside) but a little SpongeBob every day is not going to hurt them.

Stacey said...

The meeting just got ridiculous at one point w/the tv bashing.
I do agree that too much tv can be a bad thing but in moderation I think its absolutely fine.
And if we actually get a sunny day in Seattle we're outside with the quickness. TV be damned!

Doozie said...

free stuff? cool

yeah, those parent meetings are for flippy haired white keds wearing moms who only do the missionary position saturday night at 9 pm

Life As I Know It said...

I usually limit their tv watching, BUT the last few weeks the tv has pretty much saved me.

Sarahviz said...

But! But! The TV is the BEST babysitter ever!

cathouse teri said...

DVR did change the world, didn't it!?

I think TV is bad, bad, bad for children. Actually, I think it's bad, bad, bad for adults, too.

But only in large doses.

We didn't have TV channels available in our home when we were raising children. We did watch videos, though. And I found that it wasn't so much the bad (devil!) influence of the media that was the big benefit. It was that it caused us to spend more time with one another.

Really. Check it out. Computers are just as bad. And other stuff.

Try having the lights go out one night. The place goes silent. Everyone is stunned because they've no clue what to do. They gather round the table with a candle and ... what? Talk? :)

you da mom! said...

hmmm...it's doable but do i want to do it? not really. we have cut down recently, but totally shutting it off? that would be pretty hard.

Whiskeymarie said...

I grew up watching TV and I haven't killed anyone in a long, long time, so how bad can it really be?