As the Mockabee household does more and more to become "unplugged", television has been a rare occurrence. Carter's video time takes place after nap, but I never push it, in fact, I usually distract him to move onward to more creative play... Today I was spending the boys' nap time cleaning up after the weekend and taking care of other things, so I did, in fact, allow video time, so I could finish up my tasks... I do love the site of him snuggled up on the couch, however, and had to snap a picture before the TV and this image is gone forever.
This post can piggyback on the earlier post of the importance of solo time. We are finding in our home that the more and more "stimulation" that is removed, the more creative and happy our children become (well, I guess, our child as Everett really doesn't fit into that category yet). Christmas side note: This is where the heavily enforced "no batteries" rule comes in!
The other day, Carter was playing with his trains and yelled, "Get out of my way!"... I thought that was a bit rude/ abrasive for a 2.5 yr-old to say and realized that Gordon on Thomas the Tank Engine says it... call me over-protective when it comes to the television category, but I really would like to eliminate any influence that my child is exposed to at this age. They are bratty by nature (tsk tsk, I rarely say that word, but typing it feels good!), why do they need a cartoon character to enforce and encourage such behavior? Sure, shows usually always are educational or posses some moral in them, but the ride to get there is a bumpy one, I surely don't want my kid learning to say "MINE", just so that he can learn he needs to share... does that make sense?
There are many other reasons we have chosen to cut the cord, such as addictive-consumption-based commercials and to get personal, my struggle for material things... trust me, eliminating shows that display nothing but cute clothes and hot bodies does a lot of good for a mother of two on a budget! Not to mention the quality time that Jason and I have now gained without the nightly "show" we got in the habit of watching.
Apologies if that in any way sounded as if I was on a soap box, strictly our personal decision, and based off of our needs and wants. But in the mean time, please do keep me posted on Project Runway... :-) To all a fine evening, I'm off for some tea and a good book.
