Friday, January 16, 2009

How much is too much?



TV time? How much is too much? Everyone has their own ideas and rules on this, I have asked. "As long as it is teaching him something, what's the problem?" or "you shouldn't do more than two hours a day." I know myself, I enjoy sitting on the couch and enjoying a good program and then when that one is done, another show comes on. The next thing I know, it's 3 hours later. I feel like a slug. Some of the reasons we do not have cable! I could have used that time to do all sorts of things. So, with my kids I feel the same way. Kyle would love to watch show after show, if I didn't put the brake on it. He gets a half hour show in the morning when he first wakes up, a half hour show at lunch time, and then at 4:30 (which is "sour hour", kids tired of mommy and ready for daddy to be home) he gets his last half hour show. He gets an hour and a half or two hours of tv a day. Some days maybe more than others, and some days he doesn't watch any. Depends on the day and everyones attitude, mom included. ;)
And what is your tv convictions? Do tell.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

love your layout, btw...

reese watches an hour a day. a 1/2 hour show after breakfast, and one 1/2 hour before or after nap. my rule (for myself) is that i don't let her watch these unless she asks. some days she doesn't ask at all, some days she asks and asks and asks. but i pace her and only allow the two. i tape the shows, too, so she has her choice of a few (pbs).

of course, some days she asks for a movie, like she did a little while ago - she's watching "Horton Hears a Who" right now. i tell myself, it's Friday, and she's behaved pretty well this week, so it's a 'treat' for her. like you, i don't want my kids glued to the TV, but a little won't kill 'em. Reese usually acts out the shows as she watches, which i think is great. and then the rest of the day, she's playing make-believe with some of the characters she's just watched.

this summer i'm insitituting a one-show-a-day rule (probably while i'm making dinner), simply so i'll force myself to get outside with the kiddos more.

steve and randel hambrick said...

here's our deal during the week:

AK gets none before school b/c the bus comes at 7:05am!!! yikes.. so no time there.
Sara gets a half hour (little einsteins) while she eats and wakes up.
after school, they usually don't get any unless i'm trying to accomplish something and they are driving me nuts.
i'm not a nazi about it in the afternoons, but my goal is to get them to play with the overload of toys they have gotten recently.

on the weekends, they watch a good bit more. if we are hanging around on saturday mornings, then the tv is probably on their station as we eat and get organized.. probably a couple of hours.
to be honest, sometimes i feel like it's more of a detriment to have it off and have me barking and irritated at them than having it on and getting a bit of mental peace. ( you know those days you just have a hard time being loving and kind? yeah- those days)

dananderin said...

Thanks girls! Oh yes, Randel, I have those "driving me nuts" days, and the weekends, sometimes, he will watch a longer movie or like Lindsay on Fridays he gets his two shows in the afternoon or a short movie. Winter makes it difficult, but Kyle is great at pretend/make-believe. It's a good idea, Lindsay of Reese asking. The only draw back is we don't have the option of taping the shows, which is difficult. He has to watch the ones he wants at that certain time.
Thanks for commenting!

Al said...

The TV is practically raising Isaac. That is where all his quick wit and car knowledge comes from. I say, you can never have enough of the tube.

No, honestly, I don't really limit his intake, because some days he doesn't want it on at all, other days he watches two or three PBS shows in a row. PBS kids is his limitation. We don't really watch anything else (unless I'm folding laundry with What Not to Wear). I guess I am fortunate to have a little one that will somewhat monitor himself and doesn't want to watch much TV. By not being super structured about it, it is pretty peaceful around here. This is in no way advice. :-)