Friday, September 22, 2006

I never thought I would let him do this so early
Logan is watching cartoons now. He's been watching them for about a week or so. I was never going to be "that parent" who never lets their kids watch T.V. because really, that's just crazy. I did have strong opinions about babies watching T.V. though.

Childhood obesity is something that really grabs me. There are two parts to this problem: the food choices that children are taught to make & the activities & lifestyle that they are taught to lead. My very firm opinion is that parents are major contributors to the issue. It's very easy for parents to let the T.V. be the in house babysitter. Often times, it gets out of control & kids end up watching hours upon hours of T.V. like little zombies. I've always wanted to be a good example for Logan & help him make healthy choices. I thought he would be too young for T.V. for quite some time.

Last week I was trying to make myself breakfast & Logan was crawling around underneath my feet. I kept picking him back up & into the living room with his toys. After doing this 10 or so times, I decided to turn on the T.V. He'll watch it every now & then, like when we're nursing he'll stop to watch Dr. Phil or whatever else is on. So I thought it might distract him for a bit while I cooked some eggs.

I looked through the guide & found a bunch of cartoons. I put one on & he loved it. He sat there & watched for a little bit, then played with his toys, stopped to watch again & then played. He went back & forth between cartoons & toys for a good while. It kept him busy & let me cook without worrying about him getting stepped on or burnt.

So now in the morning after he eats breakfast & I start to make mine, I'll put on his cartoons for a short time. He really likes them. He even has his favorites. He likes to watch Higgly Town Heroes & Little Einsteins. I think they're pretty cute & don't mind watching them with him, unlike other kids shows (Teletubbies. Yuck).

Yesterday afternoon was a true testament as to how much he likes them. Bill was downloading songs to rebuild our music library since the "Big Crash" after the move. We had a bunch of kids CD's for Logan in a special "Logan's music" file. One was "Here Come the ABC's" by They Might Be Giants. Bill found it again & noticed that they sang the theme song for Higgly Town Heroes.

Logan was playing on the floor & Bill started the song. Logan stopped what he was doing & stretched his neck to look at the computer. He got really excited & was trying to watch his cartoon. We just cracked up laughing. It was really cute.

I don't think I could stop doing something that he enjoys so much. As long as we remember "everything in moderation" & keep up with our active lifestyle & keep a variety of activities available for him, like reading books...I think we'll stay balanced.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you're really lucky you'll get a kid like mine are. Mine self-regulate their television very well. They'll watch a show, and when it's over they'll get up and turn the television off and go play. Rarely do they space out in front of the TV, unless they're not feeling well.

The other night they were all up under my feet and in my way while I was fixing supper, and I suggested they go watch TV. They said no, they'd rather watch me.

the boyd girls.... said...

Caroline also loves the t.v. I don't use it as a baby sitter but we watch one thing occasionally. Lets just say, when Little Einsteins come on, she smiles and claps! No joke! So of course, Nana and Poppy bought her the DVD and when I need to change out laundry I turn it on...but she only really watches it for like 5 or 10 mins!

Jezer said...

Like you said, everything in moderation is a good rule of thumb. With you and Bill as parents, I'm sure Logan is in NO danger of becoming a couch potato!