TV...or not TV....THAT is the question.

Even before we were married, my DH and I were never really "tv people".  We do have a television and basic cable.  He watches football, baseball, etc - whatever is in season...and occassionally we watch a "This Old House" episode or something of that nature.  So naturally, when my daughter was born, I made it my strict mantra "NO TV" for my child.  She will read, play, sing, run...but not watch that "junk".  My thought process on this was simple.  I didn't want  her being exposed to all the negative things that were shown on television - shows, commercials, inappropriate behavior, dress, language...you name it.  I certainly did not want to allow anything bad into her little mind.  And so it went...my tv-less child.  We would occassionally get a video from the library and we even have a few of our own which she really loves.   Every so often I allow her to watch a special show in the morning if I am really in a rush to get ready - Sid the Science Kid is her favorite.  She is quite proficient with the computer and we do allow her limited time to play on that.  She enjoys playing Sesame Street and the PBS website .  She can watch slideshows of our family photos.   That was the extent of her electronic entertainment.

Well, last week my little girl was sick (wasn't everyone?).  We put her on the couch so she could rest during the day, of course.  Coloring, puzzles and dollhouse only lasted so long.  So....enter PBS Kids.  Channel 3.  Sesame Street.  Curious George.  Word World.  I had to start watching some of these shows with her to get her through the day.  The shows were cute. The content was good.  There were learning segments, letters, numbers, life lessons...not too bad.  It was even nostalgic for me!   We got through those few days,  thank God. PBS shows in the morning and some videos that she had gotten for her birthday if necessary later on in the day.  It was a television frenzy!  She couldn't wait to watch the "next" show or movie.  Harmless?  Maybe.

It's been a week since she recovered.  The first few days were a shock to me. She would wake up in the morning and take her chocolate milk, head to the couch and say "what can I watch now?"  When I would tell her "nothing" and try to explain that we only watched a lot of shows because she was so sick, she told me her tummy hurt!  GASP!  That little picture box thing was so powerful (dare I say evil?) that my innocent little girl was going to pretend to be sick now ?!?

For the next few days I had to wake up and immediately DO something, get out of the house, have a plan....because if I didn't , she was asking me to watch something.  Amazing - she wanted to watch something more than she wanted to play with all of her birthday presents!   It was really quite a struggle for me the first few days.  I was actually feeling like a horrible mother for even letting her sit and watch it for so long to begin with.

So, why I am I thinking about all of this and why am I writing about it?   I know that some of my friends and family think I'm a little odd for not having her watch tv or not letting her get caught up in all the mainstream, character toys, etc.  I ALWAYS get comments like "What's wrong with Sesame Street"?  "Is it a sin to watch Clifford?"  Well, no...I actually LIKE Sesame Street and I think that there are a LOT of good things for kids to learn there.  I was brought up watching Sesame Street.  It's not ALWAYS the content of the shows that we have to be careful about...but it is the DEPENDENCY of watching them in general.  Isn't the same true for adults?  How many of us used to watch "the Soaps"?  Would you miss a day?  I know many who would video record them so as not to miss out on a single hour of these make-believe lives.  I can even see my little girls temparment change when she watches more than a short segment. She gets whiny, cranky, lazy, doesn't want to play with anything else...I call it "brain-mush".  It can become a habit so fast...and THAT (in my humble opinion) is something that we need to be mindful of for our children, just the same as WHAT they watch.  As an Orthodox Christian mother, I want to be sure that she isn't exposed to anything that is inappropriate and not pleasing to God....for the eyes are the window to the soul.    Even if we were to put aside the fact that we shouldn't allow them to fill their mind with garbage and noise...we  must remember that we could be letting them set up habits that could last a lifetime.   There are so many children today that don't know what to DO if they aren't in front of a television, listening to their iPods, playing a video game.  We, as parents, are responsible for paving the way for them.  If it was this APPARENT after just a week with my little girl, just think of how much of an impact it has on children after a year, two years, etc!

Every year there are more and more gadgets.  Every year it seems like younger and younger children are "needing" these gadgets.  I know 8 year olds who have cell phones, 5 year olds who can't go anywhere without a portable gameboy, 6 year olds who watch a movie every single time they get into mom's minivan!  It's crazy!

"We will put the devil in our houses inside a box and his horns will be on the roof."  St. Kosmas