I've been thinking about how much television our children should watch each day. I've been questioning if we watch too much. So..for all my 4 readers, share with me your guidelines for watching tv at our house.
Friday, January 29, 2010
A Question
We are all home today getting snow/sleet/ice. How many more days till Spring??? I'm thankful that January is almost over and we are headed hopefully to warmer and sunnier days!
I've been thinking about how much television our children should watch each day. I've been questioning if we watch too much. So..for all my 4 readers, share with me your guidelines for watching tv at our house.
I've been thinking about how much television our children should watch each day. I've been questioning if we watch too much. So..for all my 4 readers, share with me your guidelines for watching tv at our house.
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Well...I'm not a great one to ask because my husband calls me the TV Nazi. Parker watches one show in the morning after we take the girls to school. The girls watch no TV during the week. I know, I'm mean. On Saturday mornings they usually watch a cartoon movie off the DVR, but they aren't allowed to just turn on the TV and watch. They have some shows on the DVR that they can watch, but they usually have something else to do or go outside after the first show/movie on Sat. morning...
The reason?? My kids would sit in front of the TV all day if I let them. Really. They look like zombies and it is freaky. So, we started this a few years ago and it's been great. :)Sorry about the yucky weather up there...it's chilly here too, today!
We don't really have firm guidelines on that, mostly because Mackenzie is in school all day, five days a week, so tv time is natually limited for her. I have been mulling over what to do for Josiah's guidelines, but I have come to no conclusion just yet! That was helpful. Sorry. ;)
Around here, I have the Today show on it the mornings, which the girls have ZERO interest in and don't really watch. I typically turn it off around 9, when we are leaving for school (but don't turn it on until 8:15). After the girls wake up from their nap, they are allowed one 30-minute DVR'd show (sometimes two depending on the day...aka, what mama has to get done). And that is it. Like Jenn's kids, Nora is a zombie when the shows she likes are on and would do NOTHING else all day long. I try to limit it for them. But after they go to bed at night.....that's when Matthew and I get to be zombies in front of it :).
I try to limit the boys to no more than 1.5 hours of screen time a day. That includes, TV, DVD's and computer. I let them watch Cyberchase in the mornings as they eat their breakfast before school. I let Will have a 30 minute time on the computer each day (which is the first thing to go if he gets in trouble) and I usually limit Sam to 20 minutes on the computer. Usually they'll choose one other show in the afternoon like Fetch! or The Electric Company, or sometimes Sam will watch Caillou or something. Occasionally we'll all watch a movie together, and then the 1.5 hours goes out the window! It's hard to keep a rein on it. I do try to avoid Spongebob and the Cartoon Network in general. The biggest challenge I have is finding shows that are appropriate for both ages at the same time (4 and almost 7.)
This is a hard question. Since Will is in school all day for so long now, his TV is automatically limited. Sometimes they will watch a Tivo'd show at night together. Will wakes up early before the rest of us and he knows he is allowed to turn on PBS.
Now that we have the Wii, he (Will) likes to play that when he gets home in the afternoon depending on what we have going on. And he LOVES playing it on the weekend when Daddy is home. So far this has not been a problem.
Since Ryan won't take a nap anymore, I have to make him have downtime in the afternoon. This usually includes Caillou or Wubzy from the Tivo. He has never been into watching TV that much, so it's usually not a problem for Ryan.
We don't own a TV, so that makes it easy. But we watch movies on the computer.
So usually we let Alex watch one movie per day: a Pixar movie, or some episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine or Bob the Builder. About 90 minutes total. Even with that I wonder sometimes if we're overdoing it. On the other hand, loss of that privilege for a day is a powerful weapon in our parenting arsenal. :)
Noah has ADD, so I REALLY limit his intake. I really think it is related to sitting in front of a TV from his birth. I think he was put in a swing with a TV on from a very young age, so I am very anti TV with em. She didn't watch any until 2. She really doesn't watch now. She'll ask - maybe a few minutes in the a.m., a few minutes while I'm fixing supper - not a whole lot. I would prefer none but it's not realistic when we have 2 much older. Noah is limited to 1 hour total during the week (TV, video games, computer). Katie is much more interested in playing with friends, which we are learning may not be as innocent as we thought :-0! I'm reading about limiting her texting and iPod. We are more leniant on the wkend - but no more than 3 hours! And I'm the stepmom Nazi!
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