Mixed feelings on TV

I’ve been tired lately. Really tired. This little person growing inside of me has been taking all my energy:) Therefore, I had fallen to using the TV to entertain my little girl. I have a lot of guilt about this. I do not put a lot of value on tv. I don’t watch a lot of tv. As a matter of fact, we did not have tv in our home for two years and did not feel like a big part of our life was missing. We will never be the family that regularly turns on the TV. We do not have “regular” shows.  We would much rather play outside or dabble in another hobby, of which we all have plenty. I am not saying this because I have an issue with people who watch TV. It is just not our life.  We would much rather go for walks, runs, bike rides or jump in puddles, leaves and the snow, work on an art project, bake something or read. It makes me proud that my daughter loves books and at 2 ½ when my daughter asked me to teach her to read, I did. And she can now read a handful of words. This trumps TV any day. And nothing can beat the real life memories we create together.

And when asked what she wants to do, my little girl often wants to color, play kitchen, read or work on puzzles. So, our daughter who has gone from watching movies only on special occasions and long car trips has been watching TV often in the last few weeks. And although I still have guilt for this, I have realized some good has come from this. She has learned how to operate the Blu Ray player (I realized this when I awoke from a nap to find a second movie in), she has increased her vocabulary and learned some new songs. And this has really been a treat for her to get her special blanket and pick out a movie to watch. We have cuddled together (ok, mostly I have slept) and often talked about the shows we've been watching. Her perspective always amazes me. She's learning some good lessons from some of the shows.

Now that I have gotten some energy back, we are back to puzzles and books and running around the house (at least until we can be outside!). We are having playdates and making memories and creating art. We’ve been painting pictures. Although I was rather alarmed when recently she was painting pictures for fictional characters on TV (Little Bill and Dora & Boots), I was pleased that she also remembered friends and family and painted pictures for those REAL people who are important to us as well.
~Angela