Wednesday, September 25, 2013

You Cannot Beat The Television

You cannot beat the television.
The television, television.  -OK GO

I've been a couch potato for as long as I can remember.

Scooby Doo, Sesame Street, Burgugas (Mexican show in the 80's, you can YouTube) are some of my earliest childhood memories.

I can name a lot of other cartoons, children's shows. I can spend whole days in bed doing nothing except zoning out to whatever strikes my fancy. 

I really, really wanted to avoid that for my son. I had a plan. No TV till two, then limited screen time from then on. 

Well we all know how that turned out, right? You don't? Read it here, I'll wait.

So I spent a lot of time beating myself up (as did the hubby) then I made peace with it. At home he gets 20-30 minutes Monday through Friday. On weekends as little as nothing (except Football ALL Sunday, not that he cares. Unless we cheer, then he cheers too. Epic cuteness) Or maybe a family movie we try to watch. He'll pay attention to pieces, but I can't say he watches. At my moms, I don't know how much he gets to watch. When he starts school in just a few weeks it will drop dramatically as he'll be at Grandma's two days less a week. I think we'll be just fine. 

In the meantime we have found two shows approved by both the hubby and I that we LOVE.

My Number 1 pick, Super Why! (the hubby's #2)


Art work by me, no not a 7 year old

This show is awesome. I love the reading readiness, the message it sends and "Hip Hip Hooray (the super readers saved the day)". No matter if Animal paid attention to the episode or not (but almost always yes) he starts dancing and throws his arms up in the air. I love it. I especially love the idea that if you have a problem you can't figure out, you can find the answer by reading a book. It's the same message he'll be getting from me his whole life, because when I don't know something that's how learn about it. 

My Number 2 pick, Team Umi Zoomi (the hubby's #1)


It's such a fun show. Completely age appropriate. Fun with shapes, counting, and patterns. Math skills are super important and this is a great show to get your preschoolers mind engaged. I also like the music in this one. 





Animal also likes:

 Peppa Pig (harmless, age appropriate and fun)
Yo Gabba Gabba (lots of fun, musical, my favorite song; Don't Bite Your Friends)
Bubble Guppies (learning, music, and funny. I like this one too, the hubby can't get over fins)

I can't stand Dora the Explorer. I just can't.

The hubby can't stand Ni Hao Kia-Lan. I was sad about that one, because I think it's cute and Animal likes it. He (the hubby) doesn't like it because he thinks the characters are whiny and that after they're whiny and pout, they get what they want. I don't always agree, but they are whiny. 

I still watch TV.  A lot compared to some. 

Compared to my old self however, I'm down 50-70% a week. The only day the TV is on all day now is Sunday, but when the football season ends that will change. I'm pretty happy with that.

How about you? 



This post is part of a multi blogger collaboration. To add your two cents or to see what others are watching. Just click the TT button.

13 comments:

  1. The boy loves all of those shows, too. He actually sings the alphabet with Pig's melody, rather than "Twinkle, Twinkle."

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    1. I thought I first heard about this show from you, but I couldn't find the post to link. Maybe it was a tweet?

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  2. Totally agree with Hubs on Ni-Hao Kai-lan. I let my girls watch it for a long time, until the youngest started acting like Ho-ho the little whiny bitch monkey. Then I said no more ho ho.

    And I disagree that Peppa Pig is harmless - she introduced my kids to the word "BOOOORING" and while it's kind of cute that my kids say it with a British accent, it's horrendous when they all start telling me "that's BORring" about every activity.

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    1. First, LMAO! He'll be glad to know someone agrees with him ;)

      Second, we don't watch Peppa Pig here, I know he loves it because my mom told me so. I saw one episode and decided he wasn't learning anything, but it was cute and harmless.

      BORING? I HATE when kids say that! Mine's an only child so he's gonna have to learn to entertain himself A LOT and I might be driven to drink (more) if he starts telling me he's bored. Thanks for the heads up. BANNED!

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    2. Seriously, nix Peppa before that cheeky little sow teaches Animal some bad manners! (they are always learning SOMETHING - just not always a good thing!)

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  3. You've reminded me why I'm so glad my boys are older, because I can't stand TV aimed at children. . .

    Then I remembered the Minecraft videos on YouTube . . .

    Loved your pictures!

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    1. Minecraft videos? You Tube is my next destination....

      Thanks I love to draw pictures. I'm proud of my middle school skills, plus it gives me a chance to pull out the prismas...(my pricey colored pencils)

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  4. If I ever have kids I suppose I'll have to share the TV... boo :(

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    1. Share? One of the sad things you learn quickly is your kids pretty much usurp everything. EVERYTHING.

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  5. My daughter is older. I think the only option at the time was Barney. Creepy purple stuffed giddy freak - I still know all the songs. Ugh.

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    1. Funny how the music doesn't really every leave you...

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  6. I LOVE Team Umi Zoomi--and hello, your art work is AWESOME! Did you ever watch The Upside Down Show? It was on Nick Jr. (I think) and was two guys from Australia (I think) who did these awesome sound effects. My preschooler and I watched it every Saturday night when I was pregnant with my younger son. I have such fond memories of it for that reason...but they took it off the air! It was kind of a weird show (sort of like how Yo Gabba Gabba always freaked me out), but when you got to watching, you saw how brilliant these guys were. Anyway, I wish they'd bring it back--and I also miss the little guy on the commercials who had the pet named Z, and they'd say, "PUZZLE TIME!" before putting up a "find the letter" puzzle. Okay, so we watched a lot of Saturday-night t.v. when I was pregnant, alright? :)

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    1. OMGosh, that is just what I think of YGG. It creeps me out, but the longer I watch the more I see their brilliance. I'm going to you tube, The Upside Down Show. You have peeked my interest.

      Do you really like my art? I'm considering illustrating my post when I have no pictures...

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