HOW MUCH T.V. DOES YOUR CHILD REALLY WATCH?

[MS.TAI75]

How much t.v. does your child really watch?  Do you know? Or do you say out of frustration and tiredness from the long day, "go in your room and watch t.v."?  Does this even make a difference? Do you think that by your child watching that it really changes their emotions and attitudes? 

Just to share. I am not a t.v. person, honestly I can do without t.v.  But my husband is another story.  He can watch t.v. and play video games day and night.  When he's home the kids tend to watch him.  So I had to put my foot down so-to-speak (smile).  Within the past 6 months I have changed the way the children my 3 and 4 year old watch t.v. They have hours from 4pm to 7pm.  This works! Because I get all their home-schooling work out of the way, extra-curriculum activities (outside the home), and naps.  Do you set limits?

 

Thanks for your positive feedback.

[HarrisonMommy]

 I am like you, I could do without TV. Though every once in a while I do like to sit in front of the tube after the kiddies are in bed and enjoy some Golden Girls, or wake up in the am and watch a nice episiode of I Love Lucy. I enjoy sermons (at times) given on television. My husband is a sports fanatic when it comes to the NBA, MLB or NFL lol So, my tv during the day is usually tuned to ESPN or some similar channel.

I believe my kids watch too much tv, about 2 hours daily. But, that's time that gives me enough time to sit down with each of them for one on one time, it keeps the others busy.

They enjoy the NGW, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, PBS, NickJr, Sprout.. I try to keep it educational as much as possible. My daughter enjoys shows like Shake It up etc,. which she watches about twice a week.

I think that it could have it's negatives just like anything else, but that is where responsibility from the parent comes in to play. We still have to manage our roles as rolemodels and disciplinarians etc,.

-Hope this answers your question-

I try to set limits, but from what you say you have been setting a schedule (discipline) so they know Mommy has RULES and who is in control of the situation. Husbands and video games lol I have one of those, however I got rid of the XBOX last year.. He is trying to bring another one in the home, it will need some guidelines and limitations.

If your husband enjoys day & night video games etc,. maybe you could find a cheap television to put in your room so you can enjoy your living space (just a though) :)) Sounds like your doing a great job though!

 

--I am a wife & mom of four (one on the way)--

[TonyaLea]

My 3 year old DD is in daycare 3 days per week, so there is no TV on those days excpet for a half hour show I let her watch on Netflix before bed.  (also, if it is too cold or raining hard, daycare will sometimes put a movie in during their normal outside play time).  

We don't have cable, so there is no idle watching of the television.  The other 4 days that she is home, I generally have a rule that the TV has to be off by 11am.  Sometimes she watches movies or netflix cartoons during that time, sometimes she doesn't.  

[corrinacs]

Caden loves his video games and I want to foster that love since its something him and his daddy do together.  That being said, I think in total on a school day, Caden watches 15 minutes of TV while I am pumping milk or feeding his baby brother.  The weekend is a different story.

[MS.TAI75]

love the feedback. Don't mean to be rude but what is a DD? Anyway on weekends I too allow my son to play video games with his dad especially if ad is off work.  Guys seem to bond differently than us women.  

[TigerofMu]

Our kids don't have TV in their rooms.  We absolutely do set limits.  There are exceptions, like on Monday nights when my DH, our son and I have class, they stay home (babysitter).  We let them get some movies from the library that day and watch them that evening, or I will let them watch something special that I've recorded, but I hardly ever let them just watch live television, because even with shows that I deem appropriate, there are sometimes things that surprise me, or commercials that are not okay in any way!

Some days the television doesn't turn on at all in our house, at least until the littles are in bed.  Our son will stay up and watch a movie several nights a week, and we sometimes watch with him, but he's not sitting around watching it during the day either, he's out and about, working.  My DH and I do watch TV.  We turn it on at night and fall asleep to whatever show we're attempting to watch!

On Fridays they are allowed to check out a movie at the library, and if the weather is bad, it gives us a back up plan for part of the weekend, though we have lots more fun playing board games and doing activities together, so they sometimes go back unwatched!

[rkoloms]

At 16, our rule is still one hour on school nights, two hours on the weekends. This has been the rule since we started letting her watch TV (around her third birthday

[vampiregirl100]

My dd gets one hr tv before bed except weekends we watch movie together.

[printerr]

I know my son watches too much.  He LOVES tv and movies.  However, he does not (and will not) have a TV in his room.  And he often does play with toys while the TV is on, so even though I say he watches a lot (which he does),he's not constantly just sitting in front of the TV doing nothing else. 

[auntangelofsix]

my son does not watch much tv or play much games either because he go to friends house and they come over here and they play either here or at friends house.

[TerriC]

I do set limits and thankfully, they don't have to watch TV, there are things they want to watch, but they are happier of they are playing.  They do not have TV's in their room, I don't think that is necessary.