Thursday 20 October 2011

My Love/Hate Relationship with the Idiot Box

Sophia has written a post mentioning the guilt involved in how much tv kids watch these days. I have to admit, this is something I wrestle with most days. I think the issue is that I wish my kids watched less tv, but in reality it's just too hard to get through the day without it. I need the mental break, and the physical break, just to get the basics done ( cooking and laundry, a bit of cleaning).

My current issue of annoyance with the whole situation is the people who write the reports recommending kids under 2 don't watch any tv – because that's all well and good, but seriously – how are we supposed to manage otherwise? The pressure is put on the mothers to somehow do everything with littlies in tow, which is just impossible. Especially on lack of quality sleep. They should suggest other ways of managing down time, instead of just making us all feel bad about relying on the tele.

It's all very well to say that kids do better without tv, but they don't exist in a vacuum – what if I end up resenting them, don't get dinner cooked, the house is a bombsite (well, more than it usually is anyway!) and I'm going crazy for lack of mental space, meaning I turn into a grumpy mum and wife? Surely it's better overall if they watch some tv while I try to get things under control around the house and clear my head.

I've decided tv can be a good thing when used wisely. I've started putting it on at 8.30am when Sesame Street is running, and I use the half hour to read my bible and pray, and take my various vitamins. I figure if I spent this time looking after myself, it will give me energy and perspective to manage the rest of the day wisely. I also usually put the tv on at the end of the day when I'm getting dinner ready, or running around tidying up, getting ready for baths etc.

It's when the hours in front of the screen creep up to 2 or 3 hours a day that I regret the situation – but as Sophia notes, sometimes you just do what you have to do. A pity that our society isolates families the way it does, meaning there are less people around to share the load of child rearing. And on balance, I know my kids have a pretty good life. A bit of tv doesn't change that.

But still, I wish I could do without quite as much of it!

2 comments:

Mary said...

You'd need the check with Mum about how old I was but I know that well before I started school, probably around Hamish's age I watched 1.5 hours in the morning and afternoon because that's how long sesame street and playschool went for and they were on at both ends of the day.

I really enjoyed it and have lots of nice memories of both those shows and I don't think I'm suffering nor did I suffer from any kind of ill effect all these silly articles always bang on about. I think Hamish and Michael probly watch a very nice normal amount of tv and you just shouldn't worry about it. If you wanted to mix things up you could always put a DVD in instead of your choice then do an activity about it later to make it more interactive?

ud said...

Modern TVs are too attractive. I can give you some old scratchy B+W TVs - little portables with bunny ear aerials. And tinny sound. One has no picture to speak of.