Katherine is getting old enough that, if she wanted to, she could go downstairs early in the morning and watch TV on her own, rather than coming into our room and soliciting one of us (or whichever one is not already off at work) to come downstairs with her.
She opined yesterday that she’d rather not do that, but that there was a simple solution that some of her friends at preschool recommended, to wit: her own TV in her room.
I opined back that such a solution was not on the charts.
Margie and I have talked about this, and we both feel pretty strongly against TVs (or computers) up in the kid’s room. Whatever folks feel comfortable with, of course, but for us, we’d rather know what she watching and doing, and, perhaps, even share in the experience, or let her share in ours. The point being doing things (even separate things) together, rather than apart.
Margie grew up in a household with limited TV watching. We watched a fair amount, but, even though John and I from early ages had the hand-me-down black-and-white in our room, we were not encouraged in the evening hours to watch stuff on it, but, rather, to watch stuff with the ‘rents. And I think that was a good thing all around.
So … the first of what will likely be several million requests for a TV in her room. Here we go …
Yes, it’s much better being together at the pc or teevee – and kids do that themselves, so that must be the right way to go. 😉
My three-year old son has a TV in his room, but it’s not hooked up to any cable. He can watch one of his DVDs — uusally Bear in the Big Blue House, The Wiggles, or some Disney movie, and he’s content to have that. I thought he’d have it on a lot more, and that concerned me, but surprisingly, Nicholas isn’t that interested and turns on his TV about twice a week. Inevitably, he wanders off, perhaps to play with his computer or find some blocks to line up. Strange kid.
Katherine is more than willing to turn the TV off if it isn’t something she’s actively enjoying. She’s got her computer, or other toys, or she even (gasp) likes to go outside.