My Son Is 21/2 and We Do Not Have Cable Anymore......

A. - I vote for "not let him watch." I've found that many of these "PG" rated animated movies are just not appropriate for a 2 1/2 year old - they're just now learning about less kind behavior, and sometimes the unfamiliar emotions scare them. We've had a recent experience with my 2 1/2 year old watching a "G" rated movie that has given him some anxiety at night before going to bed.

We've had lots of success in keeping our little guy entertained with Curious George DVDs (we LOVE George), Thomas the Train, Clifford, and the like.

Find your local PBS station and watch some of the morning cartoons. They also have a website - pbskids.org - where you can get snippets of the shows (and play some online games with your child - they love that), if you're not able to view them during their broadcast times. If you find one that your son likes, buy some DVDs of it of ebay or amazon. Most of the PBS morning shows are perfect for his age. some of the afternoon PBS cartoons are developed for older children, but still okay to watch - the concepts may just be to "old" for him.

If your son liked some other animated "series" on cable (Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, Little Einsteins, etc) then find some DVDs of those. If you keep a couple of DVDs in your DVD player, or have them handy for quick change out, you might be surprised at how satisfied your son is with the variety of t.v. watching opportunities :)

Best of luck. You may find that not having cable with your son is the best thing you ever did...

3 moms found this helpful

Hi A.,

I would only let my child watch something educational....from the real world. They learn a lot very fast beause they are like sponges also the words that we don't want them saying.....

Hope that helps,
M.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi A.,

It is better to not let him watch. It slows down brain activity and it replacs play, and play is extrememly important. I know as I have a developemently delay child.
I would just go cold turkey, and if he wants to watch find another activity. It may be hard at first but believe me it is worth it.

Sincerely

W.

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We don't have cable either. I love not having all that junk just flowing into our house, inappropriate shows, commercials and such. I cheer you on for not being the norm.

Our family goes to the public library at least once most times twice a week. They have a great collection of children's DVD. You do have to pick though them and some of them are so scratched they no longer play. But for the most part we constantly have new, fun and educational shows to watch.

I highly recommend any of the PBS kid shows: our favorites are Clifford, Curious George, Word World, Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, Magic School Bus, Barney, Elmo, my son really likes Sponge Bob (that one we watch together, and talk about it)...oh, our library branch has the whole Pee Wee's Playhouse collection (a bit goofy but fun).

We have tried some of the Pixar and Disney movies...but the anxiety levels always seem to go up...nasty sharks, monsters hiding under the bed, the mom always dies (what in the world did Disney have against mothers anyways??), my 2 year old will cover her eyes and scream "NO NO NO!!!" at the TV.

So good job mom for being concerned...use your mommy gut and you will be fine.
HUGS!!

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Whatever you put into your children will form your children. They're little sponges. For videos nothing beats the Little Einstein line. If you show NOVA or a wild kingdom show (that kind of thing) then your child will catch more than you realize. Best wishes.

1 mom found this helpful

at that age i say dont let him watch. classic disney cartoons are alright (bambi, dumbo, snow white, fox and the hound, lady and the tramp, robin hood.) at 2 they dont truly grasp what your trying to explain. from about the 80's it seems they are trying to entertain the adults too. go with the older ones, my son even likes the old elvis movies, turner classics , elmo and most pbs movies will teach your child too not just entertainment. good luck. hope you find some that work for you.

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We have never had cable and my kids are 17,14 and 11. Figured if we had it, they would watch even more TV. My oldest seldom watches ANY TV now, just movies and videos. What they did watch when they were little- PBS. We probably had the only elementary age kids that LOVED Antiques Roadshow. It has great young kid programming most of the day. Or put him in front of a Spanish language channel with regular cartoons- maybe he'll learn some Spanish! A lot of the inuendo goes right over their head- especially at 2 1/2- but the language in Shrek as far as I remember is not that great. (A real eye opener is to LISTEN to a movie while you are driving and the kids are watching it in the back of the car. Without the visual you "hear" more of what is being said- then you really notice the language.) Stick with the G movies. Although I am not so sure that I agree the older Disney movies are all ok. Lots of them have scary scenes (the rats in Lady and the Tramp come to mind) and one parent is always dead. I would wait on Animal Kingdom- animals eating each other can be a little intense for this young. Really at 2 1/2 the PBS shows are about all he needs. Better yet- take him to the park or give him some bowls of water and a paintbrush and let him paint the driveway.

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so weird you brought this up...just today they played TWILIGHT in my daughter's fourth grade classroom...NINE YEAR olds ...but it's PG-13??? what happened to parental guidance??

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Unfortuntly, the only "safe" TV or movie these days is none at all. Althogh, the movies you picked is what we allowed our 7 year old to watch and he is doing just fine. I like those movies as a good choices.

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Hi A.. I am not a bit fan of T.V. at this age. Try sitting with books or crafts that are age appropriated. What a wonderful time to spend together.

L.

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Although they are just words - your son is 2.5 years old and VERY impressionable.

Just words? How many adults do you hear saying these same words?

There are plenty of age appropriate videos / DVD's on the shelves that do not use those words but rather use good words, teach good things and aide in the learning process.

Sesame Street, Blues Clues, Dora and Diego, and the list goes on......

1 mom found this helpful

Hi A.,
I am a mother of 3. I recommend not let your child watch these cartoons. He will pick up on the language and demeanor or the charactors. We stopped watching Hannah Montana several months ago because my 9 YO daughter was picking up the words (Stupid, I told you so, etc.). I would talk to her and ask, "What would happen if you spoke to your brother like that?" What I was saying and what she was watching were insonsistant. She is doing extremely well in school and is very artistic and musical and I believe it is because we don't watch hours of mindless television. We like to play lots of boardgames, take lots of walks, and garden. We have several children who live in our neighborhood and wonder if they ever see the light of day. Enjoy your special blessing.

It is so funny that you ask that. I was just recently dicussing it with another mom from my daughters pre-k class. I stopped letting my daughter watch SpongeBob specifically for that reason of the violent acts of hitting each other and calling each other names that aren't so nice. Honestly she doesn't miss it much. I found that as long as she has other things to enjoy for a little while then she is ok. If she ever does want to watch movies or cartoons I like getting the princess ones out or the ones that are educational instead. I don't know how much of this will help you but if anything my daughter just turned 4. Hope that you can find a happy medium with it all.

those type of movies are made for adults as well as children. Most of the adult parts go over their heads, and the kids don't even know what the meaning behind it. Let your kids watch them in my opinion, if they say anything you think is inappropriate tell them. tell them you don't like those words becuase it could hurt peoples feelings and that is not okay. kids who are 2 1/2 dont really know any better.

It's a good opportunity to teach them that we don't do or say everything that others do and say. Just because you see it or hear it doesn't mean that it is acceptable in our house. I have this same problem. I do allow it when it isn't a common thing in the movie. But, if it is a show or movie that constantly repeats it, I just turn it off. There are other shows and movies that she can watch.

My kids also know that if they continue to say those things, then the few movies that teach it have to go. They don't want that to happen, and usually comply.

Whether it be a show or music or literature. If it's too much, it's too much. We don't allow that in our house. I have a friend who did this with his boys from a young age all the way through high school. The rule: if found something in the house that wasn't appropriate, he would break it and throw it away (even if it wasn't theirs). The boys quickly learned he was serious and knew not to bring anything into the house he may not like. He said all it took was one time. He broke the son's friends cd. He said he didn't have trouble with it later at all.

So, I say start that now and it won't ever be surprise to them on what you expect. Certain things just aren't appropriate in our house! You may be avoiding some future problems by starting the rule now.

My pastor once said that our house should be a spiritual haven for our kids. They are bombarded by so much at school and media that they need to have a safe, positive, spiritual place to rest in. That means, we can't be too vigilant about what we allow and don't allow.

At 2 1/2 there are way better activities for your baby than watching tv. Try books or other learning toys to help teach your baby good things. Your child is a sponge and whatever he hears and sees will be with him. Let it be educational instead.

I didn't read the responses, but what we do it rent tv shows from the library. They have all kinds of things from max and ruby to backyardigans. this also helps me to limit the amount of tv. 30 minutes instead of and hour......etc. Sometimes I just need to cook dinner!

Hi A.
If you cannot find movies that are acceptable- like Vegetales etc- then just don;t let him watch.
I am sure there are lots of age appropriate movies he can watch and enjoy.
good luck and blessings

We don't have cable either but always find plenty to watch. If you don't have a digital tv or a digital converter box, get one. Qubo (49.2) and Smile of a Child (14.5) and PBS and THIS (2.2) all have a lot of great kids shows.

the library is a good place to get movies.

You can get on eBay and buy all kinds of educational DVD's or Amazon.com. I buy lots of movies off eBay and am careful about what I pick for my grandkids.. thomas the tank engine, little bear, ruby and max, veggietales, ABC and 123 Richard Scary ones.. lots out there to buy. My grandkids watch Christmas DVD's year round and love Garfield's Halloween and the Charlie Brown Holiday set. Much luck!