I guess as a parent you have no choice but to participate in a particularly painful rite of passage: that of enduring kids’ television shows. Painful at worst, passable at best, annoying little animated or puppet-like creatures fill up lots of space in the course of our TV viewing hours.
And, yes, I do let my kids watch TV. Not for hours on end, but a bit everyday so that everyone can relax and “chill” for a while before bed. Is this really so bad? I know many educators and doctors think it is. Madonna, for one, has a no TV rule in her house. But if the TV shows are appropriate, and the kids are highly stimulated at preschool, school or in extracurricular activities for the bulk of the day, what’s wrong with 1-2 hours a day?
My kids happen to love the Arthur series on PBS. They have a wide age span — one is 8 and the other is 4, but it appears to be one of the few shows they can both agree on. We “DVR” it often to have a cache ready and waiting for downtime. My husband and I actually know most of the plots and kind of “get into” the show as it progresses. We too want to know if Muffy and Francine will be friends again. If Arthur will do the right thing (he always does), and if Buster will pass his history test.
Strange the things that will entertain you as you get older and have others to think about.
1 Comment
May 2, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Listen, if it wasn’t for Sesame Street, we would be LOST. Who cares what Madonna does? If it works for you, it works for you.