Do the words "screen-free week" send shivers of utter horror down your very spine? Hello, friend! Pull up a chair over here at the Lazy Moms Anonymous table!
Don't get me wrong -- I truly respect and admire the parents I know who are somehow managing to raise their kids without the aid of on-call entertainment.
As for me?
I'm a far-from-perfect parent in many ways and for many reasons, not the least of which is my approach to limiting screen time: I don't.
Never have. My (probably brain-damaged by now) children's fate was sealed that fateful day when my daughter, then a fussy, wailing infant, was miraculously silenced by the sight of the baby-faced sun on the Teletubbies. Time for Teletubbies, indeed! I was tired. I was desperate. TV not recommended for kids under the age of 2?
You can take your recommendations and stick 'em where that baby-faced sun don't shine, American Academy of Pediatrics.
When Tinky Winky and the gang lost their magic, Elmo took over as a handy-dandy tantrum-buster. Was this a good way to raise a toddler? All I knew at the time was that Elmo made the volcanically agitated little person with the tear-streaked face all smiley and quiet again. All hail Elmo.
More from The Stir: Screen-Free Week Is a Wicked Stupid Idea
Anyway, turns out I'm far from alone. (In fact, it's getting pretty crowded over here at the Lazy Moms Anonymous table.)
Just get a load of the answers some moms (co-workers and friends) gave to the question, "Are you doing screen-free week with your kids?"
"I'd never make it! Sad, but true."
"We are definitely doing that as soon as (my son) grows up and leaves the home, heh heh."
"You couldn't pay me to do it."
"Hell no."
"Yeah, ask me on a week my husband IS home."
"Are you kidding? It's hockey playoffs!"
"Screen-free week?!"
"I would lose my mind."
See what I mean?
So, how about you? Be honest -- it's not like any of us are judging (glass houses, cough, cough):
Are you doing "screen-free" week with your kids?
Image via Joelk75/Flickr
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Comments 36
They tried to sign us up for that at our local library. Yeah. Right.
Nope, but then again I don't need too. My son would rather be playing outside , with his toys, or with the dog, or drawing something. TV doesn't hold much interest for him unless its star wars, the wii or xbox, and maybe, very rarely the occasional, seasme street, although in his eyes he's outgrown it now. lol.
NO NO NO, I work 3rd shift 3 nights a week my husband works days those three days I try to nap on the couch while my son watches IPTV cartoons. I know I suck as a mom but I have to work my husband works days nights whenever because he is on call when he's not working, so my son goes to a babysitter on the nights I work. I go on little sleep on those days it would be worse if I didn't have the IPTV. On the days I don't have to work se spend time doing things with out the TV but I couldn't survive a week with no TV.
I probably do need to limit my daughter's TV time (She's recently started imitating that finger-circle move from the Odyssey van commercial, which is adorable, AND imitating the former smokers from the recent anti-smoking commercials. That... is not so adorable.) Anyway, as a work at home Mom with a husband who works away a lot, and without any friends or family within 500 miles, TV is sort of a necessity, but I try to go toward the more educational ones that engage her - her favorites? Yo Gabba Gabba, Team UmiZoomi, Bubble Guppies, and Peppa Pig. Is she suffering? I don't think so. She is not yet 2 and can count to 11, knows most of the numbers and letters, can tell me if the moon is a half moon or a crescent (we haven't gotten to full moon yet), and can identify the planets of the solar system (that is mostly because of Daddy, admittedly). And she's not particularly hyper or irritable, at least no more than any other two year old. When she starts school (or I work enough to justify daycare), or we can move closer to have family babysit, I will limit her TV a little better, but for now, it doesn't seem to be hurting her.
normally I do things like this. I am not a fan of TV. But right now I just had my 4th child, he is only 3wks old. So I'm using the TV more. Once we get the hang of things we'll cut down to out it all again, but right now it's a handy tool.