Thanks so much for alleviating some of the guilt imposed by the “perfect” parents. I absolutely hate the competitive nature of parenting. My daughter (now almost 4) has always watched a little TV while she gets her shoes on for school and in the evenings while I get dinner ready or before bed with a little snack. I will never forget when she was 2, upon seeing a smokestack belching steam, piped up from the back seat, “What’s that mama?” My answer was “a smokestack from that factory.” Her response, “No, it’s a volcano. That’s what volcanos do. They steam before the lava comes out.” Of course, I asked if Miss Kiki (her teacher) had been talking about volcanos at school. I was quickly informed that not Miss Kiki, but Dora had told her all about volcanos. I immediately felt better about the whole TV thing and haven’t worried much about it since. Although, I do still hear about how a friend’s “Little Johnny” never watches TV, or drinks juice either. Of course, in a very condescending tone.

Baby Babble seems to have moved their post down awfully quickly, following the reaction here at BabyShrink. Hmmmmmm…if they can’t take the heat, why did they start the argument? I looked back in their history a bit, and I noticed they had ANOTHER recent post on the evil TV demon; but the vast majority of the comments said what we are saying here. Yeah, don’t leave it on all the time. Yeah, don’t show the kids violent stuff. But let’s lighten up a little!

Thanks for the support!

I love it! You’re great. Thanks for the support.

MBD

I think we ARE getting readers from over at Baby Babble. BabyShrink’s page views today are huge!
It’s all good!

Interesting. Really, what is the ultimate goal of the thinking they have over at places like Baby Babble? That we should all point judgmental fingers at each other until we’re all just too ashamed to admit the reality of our day-to-day struggles?

Perhaps putting on Backyardigans while we make dinner allows for perhaps a more sane/happy parent, leading to more sane/happy kids, and maybe an even more nutritious dinner, since we actually had time to pay attention to it, while the kids were being entertained with something really cute and innocuous? (and maybe even educational?)

What’s the big whoops?

I am so glad to be holding up the banner for parents like us who want a practical, realistic approach to parenting. I agree with you; some of the parenting “advice” we read comes off as condescending and obviously slanted; like we “can’t handle the truth”. Like we’d go off willy-nilly and install a permanently-on TV with surround-sound in our toddlers’ bedrooms if they just gave us half a chance.

What we’re trying to do here is to get educated on the issues, and then learn to trust OURSELVES to make the best decisions for our unique kids (and for ourselves) in each situation.

Thanks for the support!