Rescinding the Corvette offer.
Dec. 5th, 2005 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaThis morning I turned on the TV to a cooking show while I was eating my breakfast.
Alex clapped for Rachael Ray. Okay, so she's been strangely interested in Rachael Ray for a while - but sheesh, so much for my unbelievable specialness. I still love her to pieces, but now she can just wait for Rachael to buy her a Corvette.
A brief digression about Alex and TV:
Yes, we know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV at all before age two because of concerns about its effects on development. I am utterly unconvinced by the putative TV-ADHD connection, and beyond that, the primary concern about TV in babyhood is that it crowds out activities with a higher developmental payoff, such as playing, interacting with other people, and being active. That's definitely a valid concern, but it seems most relevant for families where the TV is always on and kids are planted in front of it for long periods of time. That doesn't describe our household.
That said, we try to limit Alex's TV exposure in sensible ways. We watch most of our TV when she's sleeping. If the TV's on when she's awake, we try to arrange ourselves and her toys so that she's not facing the screen. (Other things being equal, she prefers to face us.) We don't turn on any children's television; I also avoid anything violent or graphic and anything with a lot of quick cuts. That pretty much leaves televised baseball and poker, cooking shows, decorating shows, West Wing reruns, and the occasional documentary. And we usually watch things on TiVO, which means that we can skip the commercials. Mostly she ignores the TV... but she does seem to like watching 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray.
Alex clapped for Rachael Ray. Okay, so she's been strangely interested in Rachael Ray for a while - but sheesh, so much for my unbelievable specialness. I still love her to pieces, but now she can just wait for Rachael to buy her a Corvette.
A brief digression about Alex and TV:
Yes, we know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV at all before age two because of concerns about its effects on development. I am utterly unconvinced by the putative TV-ADHD connection, and beyond that, the primary concern about TV in babyhood is that it crowds out activities with a higher developmental payoff, such as playing, interacting with other people, and being active. That's definitely a valid concern, but it seems most relevant for families where the TV is always on and kids are planted in front of it for long periods of time. That doesn't describe our household.
That said, we try to limit Alex's TV exposure in sensible ways. We watch most of our TV when she's sleeping. If the TV's on when she's awake, we try to arrange ourselves and her toys so that she's not facing the screen. (Other things being equal, she prefers to face us.) We don't turn on any children's television; I also avoid anything violent or graphic and anything with a lot of quick cuts. That pretty much leaves televised baseball and poker, cooking shows, decorating shows, West Wing reruns, and the occasional documentary. And we usually watch things on TiVO, which means that we can skip the commercials. Mostly she ignores the TV... but she does seem to like watching 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray.
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Date: 2005-12-05 03:40 pm (UTC)My parents' strategy was to keep the TV in a location that was slightly outside of our normal traffic patterns. Then they let us watch as much as we wanted. The idea was that watching TV would have to be an intentional choice, rather than just a default here-it-is-in-front-of me activity.
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Date: 2005-12-05 04:38 pm (UTC)-J
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Date: 2005-12-07 01:41 am (UTC)So mine lives in the basement, which means I have to make a decision to go downstairs and turn it on (and bring a blankie, 'cause it's *cold* down there). TV watching thus becomes a chosen activity, usually involving watching rented DVDs, rather than a "plop down and turn it on" default. Works for me. (-: