Over the last couple of weeks we’ve implemented an new set of rules surrounding television in our house. Basically it boils down to the kids only being able to watch it between the hours of 7:30am and 9am and 5:30pm and 7:30pm.
That’s still three and a half hours of TV viewing, and so well above the recommended two hours suggested by the experts. But you can’t help wondering if those experts actually have kids of their own to try and deal with. Or if they do, are they some sort of freaky Stepford children who spend hours sitting nicely in the corner playing with tasteful wooden toys and being nothing but kind and courteous to their siblings.
No, three and a half hours feels about right to us. And it’s not as if they use all their allocated time anyhow. Amy in particular is generally choosing to spend her time skipping outside or making various cards for her friends rather than goggle at the box. Evan is more addicted, but he’s of an age where he’s just learning how to follow narrative so it’s all very new and exciting for him, plus he still finds the repetitive formula of shows such as Wonderpets and Little Einsteins is reassuring rather than boring.
While the implementation of the new rules has been a struggle at times, especially around 4pm when fatigue sets in on both sides, the new regime has been overwhelmingly positive.
Mainly, it must be said, because it’s forced me to be a better parent.
The internet is a wonderful thing, but I do have an unfortunate tendency to become over involved with it. Mailing emails, twittering on twitter, flicking through flickr, reading google reader, and blogging on… wordpress (damn, I knew I should have never left blogger) – it all saps time and attention. And if that is time and attention that you should be devoting to your kids then that can’t be a good thing.
You know how it is. You switch Playhouse Disney on to keep them quiet while you catch up on a few things on the net, and the next thing you know it’s an hour and a half later and your children have metamorphosed into slack jawed TV zombies.
And that just isn’t right. You shouldn’t sacrifice time with your family in order to mindlessly fritter away the hours looking at inconsequential banalities on the web. That’s what the internet connection at work is for.
I must point out that I’m not saying that I’ve been a neglectful parent, encouraging my children to atrophy in front of the television while I spent 14 hours a day glued to my computer keyboard. I’m a pretty active parent, and like to get out and about as often as I can. But things had been slipping, especially with the excitement of all this Hadrian’s Walk business occupying a large proportion of my consciousness (incidentally don’t forget you need to let me know if you’re coming or not by Sunday).
But as tempting as it is to repeatedly press refresh on my email to see if anything new has come in, the reality is that it’s going to make little difference if I read an email or a blog comment now or in seven or eight hours when the kids have gone to bed.
So by turning off the TV between 9am and 5:30pm I’m removing the temptation to avoid my children and escape into cyberspace. Obviously I can still steal five minutes here or there by getting out some toys, giving them a bag of grapes, or supergluing their feet to the hall floor. But those methods are temporary, they don’t allow me to get so absorbed that I loose my sense of time. I just do what needs to be done, and then get back to being Dad. Which is good, because although sometimes I forget it, being Dad is the thing I like doing best anyway.
This entire post has ultimately been a rather long winded way of introducing the fact that instead of sticking the TV on when Amy came home from school this evening we went all up into the back garden and I taught Amy how to use the camera on my phone. She took to it very well, I think she might have inherited her mother’s ability with the lens. Evan on the other hand appears to inherited both my taste for gurning at the camera and my attraction to chickens.
I am so proud.
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 7:48 am
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 9:09 am
I think a tv-brake (yay wordplay) is a good thing, I know I’ve watched faaaaaaaaar too much tv when I was a kid, fully addicted to it, spent entire saturdaymornings (7am-1pm) behind the tv. And some quality time with the kids in the garden is just way better as long as they’re able to watch some tv of which in 1–15 years they’ll say..you remember that? they don’t make tv like that anymore.
Arjan´s last blog ..Magnetized
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Dan´s last blog ..A slight change of plan
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
But surely, and I know how much you like me referring to you as shirley, ukulele lessons are from 3.30 till 5 anyway?
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Dan´s last blog ..A slight change of plan
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Dan´s last blog ..A slight change of plan
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
http://www.flickoff.org/whoneedsto
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
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July 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
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July 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 7:06 pm
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July 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 8:06 pm
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 pm
See my response to Steve.
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Dan´s last blog ..A slight change of plan
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Arjan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
and about the finger in front of the lens, it’s been ages since I’ve seen such a photo, I think it’s a good thing. Everybody should have made these kind of photo’s. It gives it a certain flair, it might even come into fashion as a sort of retro thing (and I’m being like 99% serious here!).
Arjan´s last blog ..Magnetized
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Dan Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am
Recently I was loong through some old ones of Amy as a baby. AndI was surprised to find that the ones I liked best weren’t the posed perfect ones, but the flawed snapshots.
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on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Great idea on the tube limitation. Lukas gets virtually none and I feel it forces me to be a better father.
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Dan Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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on Jul 3rd, 2009 at 8:33 am
Personally, I hate watching TV during the day. It just seems wrong somehow. I feel like I should be doing something. So, even during the summer when the rules are relaxed, the TV still doesn’t go on much during the day, although the kids do get three mornings a week for cartoon viewing while I sleep in until 9.
The summer rules also relax to a point where we usually watch a show or movie most nights. Lately it’s just been a show, like an episode of Get Smart or Star Trek, because the sun is up so late we’re not even in the house for dinner until past 8 sometimes.
I can see that my kids love watching TV, but they aren’t addicted to it like I was as a kid. So, for now, I’m not too worried about it. Their addiction to Root Beer is another matter.
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Dan Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:02 am
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Idaho Dad Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
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on Jul 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
ANd how cute is Evan? Ok his Daddy is quite cute too, but Evan is adorable. And wow AMy, fabulous photos, that sky is gorgeous.
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Dan Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 pm
And prepare for a full on cuteness blast from the boy evan on sunday. Unless he gets a shyness attack of course.
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on Jul 4th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
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on Jul 9th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
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