Just Wondering About TV

I'll start by saying I do not feel guilty about this, because my children are intelligent, artistic, and well rounded. :)

I let them watch TV whenever they want to...which surprisingly, isn't much. They watch PBS Kids off and on, my oldest likes science documentaries, and at night we watch random shows together...Wheel of Fortune, American Idol, The Amazing Race. It probably adds up to an hour or two throughout the day.

And yes...if I have a headache, I let them watch TV while I rest. If I have a bunch of chores to get done and that's what they want to do, fine. And I think I already stated in another question that I will park them in front of cartoons for breakfast occasionally to go "get it on" with my husband. And I don't feel guilty about it!

8 moms found this helpful

We have the tv on 24/7. In the morning its on disney or nick jr. Around 9am ( after breakfast is eaten and dishes are cleaned up) they go and play and its more or less back ground noise. Then when they get home from school (12-3) they play until after dinner then they watch what ever we are watching. When they go to sleep yes I admitt they fall asleep to a movie.

My 3 & 4 yr old watch probally 3 hours total of tv a day( an hour in the morning and the other 2 after dinner with us, at night they are asleep with in 15mins of going to bed) and my older kids(11,12 15) watch 2-3 hours also ( thiers is only after dinner until bed as long as all homework is done)

My husband and I also sleep with the tv on... that's why the younger ones are use to it.. from crawling in bed with us they got use to the sound and light and wouldn't sleep with out it. My older 3 do not sleep with the tv on.

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We have a "No TV in the Morning" rule. In the afternoons, though, especially if my kids didn't nap well or I slept poorly the night before, I might pop a movie in. I try not to do it daily, but I will let them watch their educational DVDs (which are much shorter than a movie) on a daily basis. I feel like it's too much TV sometimes, but Mommy needs a break too, sometimes!

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If my daughter gets up extra early and gets herself dressed, she can watch My Little Pony in the morning while I get ready for work. She can also watch something while I cook dinner.

Today we were home and she was sick, so she pretty much watched Disney and Doctor Who all day. Since it was a "special" kind of day, I figured it would be ok.

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Yah, sure, youbetcha.

Some days it's nada, some days it's a marathon. It just depends what else is going on. As MrsLavallie said, no guilt. Well rounded, intelligent, active kiddo. There aren't any time limits, it's on as we feel like.

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In the morning, I have the TV on to listen to the news. Sometimes I have the radio on. Depends upon my mood.

When they get home from school - they get 15 minutes of "relaxing" time - they choose TV, XBOX, riding bikes, swinging, running like banshees, whatever - they get 15 minutes to cut loose - then it's homework/studies time.

Mine are 9 & 11. I don't know your kids ages. When they were little? and I was home with them? yeah - we would play games, go outside (I don't have a problem with playing in the rain and the puddles) and there were times we watched a movie.

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I enjoyed seeing I'm not the only who doesn't really "limit" tv time...I don't have it on during the day for my d/c kids, except at quiet time for those who don't nap, but my kids are very involved in sports/activities and have good grades...AND, some of the stuf they like is mythbusters, cooking shows, home deco shows...so I don't have a problem w/ that! :)

I do think younger kids should be limited to a point though! All kids need to be active and stimulated! But I think tv is ok!! :)

1 mom found this helpful

Some days we have the TV on a lot and other days hardley at all. I'm a person where silence is deafening.

We use the TV especially if the kids can't get along, then it's a good "reset" button. I let them watch TV if I want to run on the treadmill or get some stuff done.

Today they played remarkably well, so we just turned it on at 4. Other days we are boob-tubes. No guilt. I don't mind TV watching - although I do pick cartoons that are appropriate for their ages.

We have lots of cartoons lined up on the DVR of programs they like and that we approve of, so we have a pretty good selection to choose from. I don't usually turn on a channel and let them watch though, although it has happened.

1 mom found this helpful

My kids are 4 and 2 and our general rule is that we don't turn on the TV until after nap time. So for us, that's usually around 3 in the afternoon. They get to watch a few shows and relax a bit. Sometimes I will let them watch one or two, turn it off and then turn it back on while I'm making dinner. They can pick a movie or just shorter Noggin shows. My daughter is more into shows than movies and my son just has a short attention span since he's only 2!

On the weekends, we do allow more TV and sometimes they'll get a show before bed but we don't like to do that. We do eat dinner kind of late anyway, so for us it's better to do dinner, bath, story and bed. TV sometimes gets them riled up.

Kids TV is on all the time. They hardly ever just sit and watch it though. They watch it while they play or they ignore it. They don't have it on any thing in particular either.

DS is 6. He watches the rare football or hockey game on the weekends. He watches about 30-60 minutes of nature shows (Blue Planet DVD) once every 1-2 weeks.

1 hr a day, 1/2 hr when they get up, 1/2 hr at day care before we come get them. Now on weekends it depends on what is going on-I felt horriable Monday so they got to watch alot more then I would have liked but but usually we let them watch a movie so i'd say 1 1/2 hrs on weekends

Yes.

My 4 yr. old only has preschool 2x a week and her and I have a routine. She wakes up and 'helps' me get her brothers off to school, then I make her breakfast and she then watches Sprout for about an hour in my room while I tidy up. Then she comes out and we play (puzzles are her new fave) whatever she wants to play. Then brother comes home from Kinder and I make them lunch and then they play. Then they usually watch cartoons from about 2-3:30 when other brother comes home, then it's none stop play till dinner time!

Weekends and preschool days are totally different. I don't set limits really (only in the summer time, when I know they can be outside playing/swimming) and am not worried in the slightest about them watching 'too much' TV. We have so many other activities/sports it's a non issue at our house!

We live where the weather is often crappy and I work. Single mom. Sometimes we have movie day on the weekend and just snug up and go for it in between meals. However, many, many nights we have no TV on at all. We listen to music while talking, cooking or doing laundry and getting things ready for the next day.
I say "we" because I still have a 16 year old at home. My daughter is 25. We did things the same when she was home.

No, we don't. My daughter is 5 and her days are focused on playing. My husband occasionally lets her watch a cartoon on Saturday morning, but that's it. And once a week, our family watches an episode of Little House on the Prairie together.

i hate to admit it, but yes, now i let my 4yo son watch a movie or tv at nite, right before bedtime. used to read to him at that time, and i was so proud of myself for a while, even being a little judgmental about moms who always look fabulous, cuz i assume they were letting kids watch tv. how else to have time to put yrself together, right? i'm sorry about that now. i've become a mom who lets her son watch tv. it is the only way i can read my own books! i constantly feel guilty about it though...

Unless they're sick, they've only watched tv on weekend mornings when they got older and about 45 min before the bedtime routine/reading. I'm surprised at how much tv other people watch. I thought we were fairly liberal vs some friends. Mine are 6 and 7.

My kids can watch tv on the weekends during the day, but on school days they may not watch tv til homework and reading is done. They don't usually watch much tv anyway. Between girl scouts, sports and such we just don't have time. Though we listen to music on one of the music channels all the time. We usually have family tv time together on Sunday evening. We will watch AFV or Modern Family together.

My kids love watching movies. They get that from my husband. My daughter right now is watching a movie this morning. My younger one can watch a movie right after another. She gets into her Barbie movies. We just got Apple TV for Christmas and yes, of course my husband has loaded a bunch of movies on there. Movies we don't already have and movies we do, so we don't have much use of the DVD player lately. My kids love it and know how to work it better than I do. But yes, they love to lay on the couch with a blanket and watch a movie, especially on a cloudy or rainy day, (they get that from me). At night they will have popcorn or some ice cream with a movie.

They watch their kid shows sometimes while playing on the floor. If no one turns on the tv it will stay off, until they stop playing and they just want to relax, they will flip on the tv.