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It was not love at first sight for me. When SpongeBob SquarePants started on Nickelodeon ten years ago, I did not have kids, but I swore that if I did, my children would never watch it. Never EVER. Why a Sponge? I thought. Why does his laugh need to be so obnoxious? Why does he live in a pineapple? Under the sea? I had no time for such ridiculousness.
Like a lot of my pre-parenthood declarations (no fast food!), this one turned out to be just a tad bit unrealistic. Somehow my tolerance for the obnoxious and the ridiculous has grown in direct correlation with the age of my kids. So now I find myself not only watching SpongeBob, but loving him for his sillyness, perpetual optimism and insane work ethic. I actually use the show to talk to my kids about always looking for the bright side of things – and they say Mom, Patrick just ate his own boogar! You can’t win ‘em all, you know.
If you love the residents of Bikini Bottom, leave a comment telling me why (or, if you don’t, why not).
Then check out this video from NPR….
Tim and I both grew up watching tons of tv. As a result, we can recite 30 year-old commercials, but can’t remember the date of our Anniversary. We’re okay with that, but somehow want better for our kids (poor things). Our parents didn’t have to do much to regulate our viewing because we only had about 6 channels to choose from. Today, kids have about 600 channels to choose from, and the level of content they can stumble upon ranges from harmless and boring to nightmare-inducing gore, violence and sex. And those are just the commercials. If you’ve come across this problem yourself, and find yourself shuffling around muttering about the good old days, here are three ways you can start to tame TV-time in your house.
Get a Grip
Chances are, your kids are watching more screens than just the TV. It’s important to get a grip on just how much time they’re spending on the computer, with video games, texting, etc. This will help you figure out how much time they should realistically spend on each, and still have time for TV. And sleep. Time to sleep is good. And play. They’ve got to have time for some unstructured play, right? I know you don’t want to know how much time they spend doing this stuff. Just like you don’t want to look at your bank account – you know it’s bad. But you can’t make adjustments until you know what you’re dealing with.
Help Kids Choose What to Watch
Gone are the days when you were held captive by some TV executive’s decision about what you’ll watch and when. You can be your own TV programmer with a little help from the DVR (digital video recorder) if you have one. If you don’t, and can afford to get one, I highly recommend it. You’ll enjoy it for the ability to pause live action, or rewind immediately if you happen to miss a wardrobe malfunction. But more importantly, you can talk to your kids about which kinds of shows are appropriate to watch, and set up a recording together. Even if you don’t use a DVR or a VCR to record, you can still talk about what’s on and choose what to watch together.
Watch WITH Your Kids
I know you’re busy, but if you can spare even 10 minutes to sit down and watch one of your kid’s favorite shows with them – do it. Do it, and ask questions. This is not like watching football with your husband. Your kids will not grunt at you or roll their eyes (ok, they probably will roll their eyes). If they’re toddlers, they will love you for taking an interest. If they’re tweens, they’ll act mortified but secretly love you for taking an interest. The important thing is you may discover a new opportunity to connect with your kid. Think of the topics that are bound to come up, that you’d love to talk to them more about: sharing, fighting, gossiping, lying, making choices, sibling issues, things being fair or unfair, why it’s important to brush your teeth or wear deoderant or admit that deep down you really like the Jonas Brothers (okay I admit it). You get the idea. Talk it up!
