TV Philosophy
I’m not a huge TV person. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my Kardashians and Project Runway, but besides having the television on CNN most of the day, I don’t actively watch it very often. We always agreed not to have a TV in our bedroom –it disturbs the peaceful vibe and a distraction from.. other things- and it’s worked out well for our little family. So even though I’m not much of a TV person now, that’s not to say I wasn’t when I was younger. My little bro and I were SUCKED IN to that thing.
We each had our own TV and would spend hours watching our shows. I’m going to go ahead and date myself here, but we grew up with all of the TGIF faves (Step by Step and Boy Meets World FTW) and the Nick and Disney cartoons (David the Gnome, Lil Bits, Gummi Bears, Duck Tales.. it goes on and on). It’s funny because I have no idea what the popular kids cartoons and shows are now, especially since I don’t teach dance anymore, but from what I remember, if it’s anything like it used to be, most of it is intellectual garbage. We hardly watched educational shows –when the Schoolhouse Rock song started playing, I’d immediately change the channel- and preferred our cartoony fluff. My mom would monitor what we watched, so I was seriously excited when I spent the night at my friend Hayley’s house and we’d watch Beavis and Butthead… all night.. and we were in kindergarten.
Anyway…
While we watched a LOT of TV, we still played outside often and were active. We’d go swimming, ride bikes with our friends, build forts, I’d choreograph dances and “shows” with my friends, and weren’t totally addicted to technology. Of course, back then, we didn’t have iPods or the options that exist today.
It makes me sad to go out to dinner with Tom and see children with their families, totally zoned out from the world, tapping away on their phone or iPad the entire time. Part of me wonders if it’s to help the children behave during dinner, but when we were little, all it took was a stern look to know that we better be on our best behavior.
I’ve heard of many parents who limit their children’s time on the computer or TV each day, and I’m sure there are plenty of families out there who give their children free reign of the remote control, too. My bro and I did, and I don’t think it affected us too much. 
Source
What was it like in your family?
Parents, how do you stand watching kid’s movies or TV shows- or are there actually some good ones out there? My friend said that if she had to watch another episode of Phineas and Ferb she would have a breakdown.
What’s your TV philosophy?
-Interesting articles: about too much TV and the harmful effects of too much screen time
-Similar topic: kids and social media
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I agree–one look from my parents and my sister and I knew that we had to behave. We didn’t get TVs, movies, etc. in attempt to bribe us to be good–we just knew there would be consequences.
We cancelled our cable shortly after we had our son. We found we were watching too many evening sitcoms, and would be like “we can’t go there right now let’s watch ___ first” so we just cut it off. It’s been 4yrs and we don’t miss it at all. The first two years, as is recommended by APP, WHO, etc our kids watch no TV after that they watch the odd movie, for Tigger and Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, etc.. all shows that they participate in and actually learn from. They are limited to a max of 2hours a week. Unless we watch a family movie. My son, 4.5, can play wii, ipad, etc… and enjoys it. So Wii is not allowed at all in summer and spring and in winter he can have 30mins every other day, and the iPad is kept for long car rides to the inlaws or the hour while his sister is in gymnastics (22m so still parent participation) and he has to sit and watch. I watched all the same shows as you and don’t think it affected me, but I also played outside all the time and without all of the current technology I believe we had more imagination than kids do now-a-days, which is why we try to limit the technology/TV with our kids.
This is something we talked about in GREAT detail in my media literacy class last spring. My brother and I spent a lot of time in front of the TV when we were little (watching the exact same shows as you, it seems), but we also played sports, rode our bikes, and generally had a life outside of the TV. My parents really didn’t monitor what we watched, either. We had access to MTV, we watched The Simpsons and Married With Children, and I think we turned out ok—not only because we did things other than watch TV, but also because our parents talked to us about what we were watching, as well as current events, etc. I still haven’t decided how I’ll approach TV with my kids, but I DO know I will not allow them to be attached to their video games/iPads/whatever it out there when we go out for dinner as a family (or even sit down together at home). That, to me, is the worst.
Very interesting! My bro and I grew up very similar to you guys. We watched a lot of TV, but were also very active playing roller hockey, volleyball, biking EVERYWHERE, and playing Ghost in the Graveyard (? is that what its called) with our friends. My boyfriend and I now only have one TV (in the family room) and to be honest, I could do without it. If I had kids of my own, I’m not sure what I would do regarding the TV. Ideally, I would love it if they weren’t interested in it and only wanted to play outside, but I know that’s not quite realistic. I’m sure whatever you guys choose to do will work out well – like you said, your brother and you have free reign (like my bro and me) and look at you now! 🙂
I am 23 and my sister and I grew up without cable and we were limited to only 30 min per day on weekdays and 1 hour per day on the weekends. I hated my parents back then for it, but I think it really taught us to go outside and find other things to do with our time. And, when I got to sleep over at someone’s house or when we had a babysitter, TV was a special treat!!!
I watch a lot of tv. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it since I’m also physically active, and since my husband is deployed, I have a lot if free time. I don’t think I’d let my kids (if I have any) play with a cell phone or iPad. Mostly bc it’s too expensive to be a toy for a child!*
I have sooo much to say about this!! So, my parents decided to not raise us with a TV, we did not have one in the house till I was in highschool?
And I never felt left out. We spent our entire childhood reading books, running outside and on the computer. My parents got a lot of slack for raising my siblings and I this way, but I do have to say we have turned out to be awesome kids 😉
I should add that now that all the kids are in college my parents are glued to the TV. They both watch Lifetime Movies together ( my mom’s suggestion) and the play along with ALL game shows.
Would I raise my kids the same way? Probably not, my boyfriend and hopefully future husband is obsessed with the TV and I think he has turned out ok.
Both ways work 😉
I definitely wouldn’t let my kids just have total free reign over the tv but I think as long they are still playing outside and staying active I don’t think watching tv is a big deal. I watched all kinds of things and I turned out pretty good I think.
I definitely suggest 2 TVs in the house because, let’s be real, there will be times when you are thankful that your child is content with the tv for a little while and for sanity purposes a separate tv for their shows or movies would be nice.
With all of that said, I definitely believe family time is important and should be enjoyed with no electronics at all- eating a meal, playing games, crafts- things like that should be for bonding with little disturbances. As with everything else in life, balance is key.
Growing up we had a time limit for TV and a rule that all 7 of us kids had to agree on a program to watch or we didn’t watch that day. Weekends we were allowed more time. The shows we were allowed to watch were limited too. On Sundays after church we were allowed to watch Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, Pollyana, Summer Magic or Gone with the Wind that was it. As I got older, my Mom wasn’t such a stickler on the rules but we pretty much followed the same thing since we were used to it.
We have shows that the children aren’t allowed to watch. We haven’t had cable/satellite in 2 years. We actually just bought a TV this past Wednesday after 6 months of no TV. We weren’t going to do it but we were in a car accident on Monday thanks to an idiot driver. Thankfully though we will all live and the two littlest (2 yrs 8 mnths & 8 months) were the least injured with the baby only having a bruise because they were properly buckled in their carseats. We thought the TV would make my recovery more bearable since I’m not allowed to put any weight on my right ankle for another 4 weeks.
There are actually fantastic programs to choose from these days. Of course, you still have to be very careful with channels like Cartoon Network, or Nick at nite, or teen disney etc.. But for the mini tot days Sprout and nick jr. are absolutely wonderful. I never worried with those. Now that I have a 9yr old and a 6yr old, nick, and disney are wonderful. The shows like Victorious and icarly may not appeal to some parents, but I think they’re fine. They’re not bad at all. Public television shows like Dinosaur Train, and Super Why are very educational, but so are many shows on Nickjr. I do agree that limiting tv time is good, but as far as I’m concerned the programming available now is far superior to what used to be on television. And my children do very well in school, swim, ballet, and love documentaries. I think I did ok. 🙂 You’ll figure it out though. Gosh I actually miss nick jr. My babies are growing up. sniff sniff.
our kids are 8 and 6 and they do not watch tv. they use the ipad every few days for a few minutes but for the most part, they have no, zero screen time. we don’t watch that much tv so it’s really not that big of a deal. they watched the macy’s parade and a few other shows here. when they go to visit my mom, she gets a movie for them but they aren’t really that interested. all that baby Einstein stuff is crazy to me….
I completely agree with not having a tv in anyone’s bedrooms–including the adults in the house. lol. 🙂 When I was growing up, we were allowed to watch tv in the living room or kitchen but we did not have them in our bedrooms. We also had to be done watching tv by 9-10 PM once we got into middle school/high school. We definitely didn’t have any filters on what we watched though. I remember watching Married with Children and Daria on a regular basis.
We had a TV, but not cable, and to be honest, I never really felt the attraction of watching it. My parents never had to restrict my TV hours simply because because they were more or less nonexistent – my sisters and I much preferred to play outside or with our dolls or whatever. I think it may be partially because I went to a Waldorf school before being homeschooled for several years? Anyway, TV was never really on my radar, and I’m pretty thankful for that.
In my nutrition class it’s suppose to be kids 2 and under should watch ZERO hours of tv. How often do you ever see that though? And children above two years old are only suppose to watch 2 hours of tv – I highly doubt that’s the case though either! I really want to discourage the use of tv as a babysitter for my kids when I have them. This is me PRE-kids though…and I’m hoping that philosophy doesn’t change haha
We definitely don’t give our kids free reign with the TV… although we know lots of parents who do!! Our kids will NEVER have a TV in their rooms while they live under our roof. (We don’t have one in our room either). We only have 1 TV in the house, and any show they want to watch must be approved by mom/dad. Needless to say, their friends watch things they’ve never even heard of! (They are 8 and 10 years old). So… that probably makes them the non-cool kids in the neighborhood! LOL! I will say, like you Gina, I had a lot more free reign over my TV watching… and it has not done any harm… I am not much of a TV watcher now. As for shows– I agree with some others: Super Why is great! Little Einsteins is a good one too! 🙂
I grew up waaay out in the country – no TV reception and I was a teenager when I tried fast food for the first time, LOL.
I guess that is why I don’t have much of a taste for either. I do like some things, scary movies, documentaries but my life generally TV/movie free.
TV isn’t evil but I think we watch waay too much, I find people mix what they watch with FACTS (scary) and most of the stuff on the tube is a waste of our time.
Honestly, when we near the end of our life, how will it feel to know you spent 1000 hours of your precious life watching Two and a Half Men? LOL.
I tell everyone I know just to try turning it off for awhile, its like smoking, painful at first but then you find ways to fill the time…….. playing a game with your kids, playing an instrument, picking up a new hobby…..and before you know it you can’t imagine why you ever turned your TV on in the first place.
I studied “educational TV” in university, and there is no such thing. TV is one thing: entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with watching some TV once in a while no matter your age, but don’t try and go for “educational” programming because there’s no such thing. The most important thing you can do for your child is introduce them to reading–read them books, have books in your house, let them see you reading, get them excited about getting a book. Hearing perfect sentences through written word develops their language skills like absolutely nothing else, and learning to read when they’re ready is crucial in setting up their knowledge development throughout the rest of their life.
I would disagree. I’m reading The Tipping Point right now and there’s talk about the education and science behind children’s tv. They’ve really studied what sorts of shows/formats/info will influence learning. Though as a librarian, I’ll agree reading is terrific. But tv isn’t all a vast wasteland. I can tell you my daughter has learned a TON of vocabulary, facts, grammar, social info, I could go on and on.
I’ve never had cable growing up and always had to ask before I watched movies. I used to hate it but now I LOVE that my parents did that. I don’t waste time and don’t get sucked into all the reality tv shows. I think it’s important to spend time with your family playing games, spending time outside, and reading with minimal amount of tv time. Life’s to short to waste it 😉
The TV is a tool for me. There are times when I have to get things done, we have no family within 3000 miles of us, and if my spouse is traveling and I have been alone with no relief childcare for days and I need to make an important phone or gasp, go to the bathroom, take a shower, etc…and a 30 min episode of recorded Barney is going to save sanity, then it goes on.
I am not a purist with food, tv, or anything else, really. Most things have their place, in moderation, with supervision, with care and thought given, not just mindlessly doing it, eating it, etc.
You will find what is right as life just plays out and you all develop your own little flow 🙂
Yep!
I can’t stand people who say that they don’t own televisions. They are missing out on so many cultural and intellectual programs. You can be “in the know” without being sucked in. Like everything else, TV should be about balance, especially with kids…though when there’s an Ace of Cakes or My Fair Wedding marathon, it’s called INDULGENCE. 😉
I’m expecting, too, and my husband and I decided to try our best to keep TV to a minimum…which we do already, but to be even more mindful of it once the baby is here. Then we decided to move to NYC and into a studio apartment, so we gave our TV to my parents and now we won’t even have to be “mindful” as it won’t be an option 🙂
Phineas and Ferb is the funniest! I like that show because it has so many jokes for grownups hidden in it. I grew up with not so much TV, and more arts and crafts, reading, outdoor time. I see so many kids these days w trouble focusing because of so much time in front of the TV- that drives me nuts.
Great topic!! When I was little, we were not allowed to watch TV during the weekdays. We had so many other activities to do that TV watching was not necessary. On the weekends, we were allowed to watch a few shows, but not many!
I use to also choreograph dances with my friends. Our families would watch our (sometimes even 30-45 minute) “shows” lol. We even had costume changes… it was great! lol
Neither my boyfriend or I have cable and are against TVs in bedrooms. I don’t know… it just doesn’t seem right.
I watched allot of tv when I was a kid, my husband grew up without a tv in his home. When we moved in together we had a really nice entertainment center with a tv and all the other gadgets men like. About 4 yrs ago the tv went on the blink after one of my twins pressed a bunch of buttons and we didnt have a remote to fix it ( we bought it used) right about the time we moved. We left the tv behind and havnt bought another one. We have DVD on the computer and the kids watch a couple of movies on Friday night if we don’t have plans to do something. Also as an incentive to my son who has Aspbergers and has trouble in school I allow him Wii time to relax ( if he’s been good) before I make him do his homework. We do get asked often what we do without a tv, and don’t our kids get bored, not really they like books and I don’t think they would be as interested in reading if we had a tv.
I think some TV is okay — as kids get older, pop culture becomes a conversation ice breaker in social settings. But when they’re young, ESPECIALLY the first 2 or 3 years, I think TV has no place in kids lives. Those are the most developmentally crucial years, and I really think that ADD and ADHD are so prevalent in school (I teach Elementary school) because of too much early exposure to TV and other highly stimulating media. I am pregnant with my first, and my husband and I have both agreed that he won’t be exposed to any TV for the first two years at least. We don’t have cable and only watch a few shows ourselves on Hulu, so I don’t think it will be too difficult.
I loved The Magic School bus when I was younger! My mom did this great thing where she gave me a certain amount in quarters each week (I think 4 dollars). For every 30 minute show I watched, I had to pay a quarter. So it limited me, but also limited me more if I wanted to keep the money (which I did most of the time). I think educational shows (or like two a week or something) were free. I plan on doing something similar when I have kids.
That is a fantastic idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister did this too – about everything, not just TV. She had these little “chips” that they earned for chores. And then they had a list of rewards they could buy with the chips: screen time (which was a smaller number of chips in 30 min increments) or even an actual new video game (big amount of chips). Free things were of course playing outside, reading etc. Movies with the whole family – also free. She put this in place in a time when she thought bad behavior was showing up too much. Bad behavior also cost chips, in predetermined amounts. Good deeds outside of chores earned chips. And at the end of the week, they would all talk about it: who earned something big by saving chips and delaying gratification, who did lots of good things for others etc. I lasted about a year and drove LOTS of great family discussions and experiential learning about money, responsibility, contribution, consequences, priorities etc and cut way down on bad behavior and yelling. From what I saw I highly recommended this!!
I definitely enjoy watching TV – need my reality show fix haha. However, the telly is never on during the day and I think that is the main reason that my little boy isn’t interested in TV. I have no problem at all with him watching the odd cartoon, but nope he’s too busy with his toys, or just getting up to general mischief. We don’t have a tv in the bedroom anymore, much prefer a good book to relax before I shut my eyes!
my parents were super strict about tv. during the week — no television. when we got to high school we were allowed ONE weeknight show. weekends were less strict, but we still never watched a ton… and definitely never had tv’s in our room. my husband’s family, though, was the total opposite. he and his brothers had total carte blanche… and we both turned out ok!
I remember watching a TON of PBS….. we could watch plenty of PBS but the rest was limited. We also didn’t have cable, I never saw MTV until highschool. By then I could care less about it and watched the history channel instead (nerd alert!)….. or simpsons. My parents were fans of The Simpsons. I joke that Simpsons and Sesame Street raised me, lol.
We were only allowed to watch a certain amount of television daily growing up (I watched most of the same shows you did!), same with our Nintendo – only 30 minutes a day of video games! We were always outside playing, running around, making up games and storylines for our playtime. I thnk if/when we have kids, we’ll be limiting the amount of tv/video games they’re allowed daily, and will keep an eye on what programs they have access to… because honestly, some of the things that are on during “children’s hours” are questionable at best!
I actually don’t really remember there being any rules, but I think it’s because my sister and I really didn’t know that there were any other television shows besides what was on the Discovery Channel and Reading Time Rainbow haha 🙂 When we were older, we were allowed to watch TGIF and I remember watching Doug and Rugrats here and there, but other than that, not too much television! I never felt deprived or like I was missing out on something though. My family was always outside and my sister and I were in so many activities that I think I just forgot that there was a tv in our house and it seemed boring in comparison to all the sports I could play outside 🙂
I also don’t do tv in bedrooms but I don’t limit my daughter’s time. I didn’t watch tv the first 7 years of her life, though she did watch kids’ shows and I did watch some with her. I find that with my child, she’s pretty good at self-regulating. I don’t force issues and consequently she doesn’t go overboard. When she thinks she needs limit and boundaries, she asks. She recently asked me to put a ‘nanny’ app on her internet time. She’s 11.
It’s good to get them to police themselves. Her friend was over tonight and when I offered her salad, my daughter said “she doesn’t like vegetables”. I said, “but I thought your mom forced you to eat them with each meal?” She said, “yeah, that’s why I hate them.” My daughter says SHE eats her friends’ veg. for her when she eats over there because for her its no big deal, having never been forced. I see kids that are forced to eat veg and forbidden to watch certain shows going nuts on things when the choice becomes their own.
I would say we have guidelines for our children – not hard and fast rules. Our children are 7, 4, and another due in May. Firstly, we don’t have a tv. We have our desktop computer and our ipad. Obviously we can rent shows, and there is netflix, but this helps us regulate a bit more what we watch and a big plus is no advertisements. Our general guidelines is I’m fine with an hour of screen time a day. They can choose whether they play games on the computer, games on the ipad, or a tv show. Some days they don’t have any though. We’re always doing stuff together as a family on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, but we usually will watch one family movie over the weekend too. As far as shows go, my kids favorites are Strawberry Shortcake, Anamaniacs, Arthur, Word Girl, Super Why, Rocket Power, Pinky and the Brain, and Sesame Street. We’ve never sat our kids down and given them the rules of screen time. Hubby and I are comfortable with this arrangement and nobody makes a big deal out it. Works for us!
I used to watch cartoons and some of the same TGIF shows quite a bit when I was younger, but like you, I felt like there was always balance with play time and getting outdoors and getting physical exercise. I also think that what helped was that I usually was doing some sort of activity while watching TV like drawing, reading, making some sort of craft, etc.
My concern with the mainstream cartoons nowadays is that I don’t think there’s much value to them (I’m thinking of something like Sponge Bob). I felt like a lot of the kid shows I used to watch growing up included some sort of lesson on friendship or love. I’ve also heard of studies that show a link between fast-paced cartoons and ADD.
So bottom line, I don’t think you have to be too concerned about the amount of TV consumption with kids as you do about the content quality.
P.S. I’m so with you on the no-TV-in-the-bedroom rule!
Growing up, TV was not forbidden, but I was the kind of kid that was perfectly happy following rules (not normal!) but when my little sis came into the picture, TV was made second priority. So basically it was a last resort pastime, we had to do something else before we earned out TV time – either read, or play a game, or do an art project, practice music, something else. My mother was tricky, we usually got wrapped up in the other activity so didn’t have much time for TV. Now I only have certain shows that I follow, I never turn on the TV just for the sake of watching.
I grew up the same, I watched TV a ton, but there was always an outdoor activity I was doing. I did cheerleading, tumbling, riding bikes, roller blading (when it was cool), and during the summer I was always outside with my friends or cousins. We would build forts out of bamboo and have plays. Now thought you’re right, the only kids watching educational TV are the ones under the age of 4. I remember having 2 hours of TV every night before bed and that was it. When I went to my cousin’s house we’d spend all night watching it.
First, I LOVED David the Gnome! Want to sing the theme song together?
I watched a good amount of TV and turned out just fine. I think it’s because like you said we balanced it with playing outside, board games, people games, etc. TV was just another thing to do when taking a break.
TV watching is something that myself and my partner differ on a lot. He comes from a family where there is a TV in every room, including bedrooms, and it is never off. The usual social thing is to watch a movie at family events. I was raised without TV. We had one when I was little, but mum married a guy that was very anti-TV, so it went and I think this is a good thing – we got ponies. My form of socialising is talking with the TV OFF, but I have learned that my way is not necessarily the only way. In my man’s family, ‘family time’ is watching a show together and they talk a lot about what they have seen on TV. It used to annoy me, but I’ve grown to accept that when we visit his family, we will watch TV and talk about TV. When we visit my family, there is no TV. We have a massive TV (hey, he earns the most money, he can have whatever makes him happy), but I also have my own space where I can get away from it. Since I discovered Zumba vids and Wii-fit, I’ve also developed somewhat of an appreciation for the overkill that is our home theatre system.
My mom’s rule was no tv on weeknights (except for family viewings of American Idol season 2 when I was in 7th grade!) and no tv from 10am to diner on weekends. While it was annoying at the time, I definitely thank her for it now because I’m nowhere near as much of a tv hound as my roommates!
Both my husband and I are not huge TV people. I don’t really get hooked on shows, we mainly watch news or sports and we don’t even have cable. For the very few shows that I’m actually interested in, I’ll watch on hulu or DVD when I get the chance. I much prefer being active though and my husband is the same way. We plan to limit TV with our baby and hope he turns out like us haha.
I’m not a parent, yet, but I don’t plant to let my child have a TV, computer, or phone in their room. When they get old enough to use a cell phone it will be one of those ones only programmed with parents and emergency numbers, at least until high school. That’s the plan, anyway, who knows what will happen in reality. 😉
I would say only have one t.V in the house. If they have their own, it will be on all the time. And make sure you do lots of activities, like puzzles and books. Kids will choose spending time with their parents over tv any day, until they become teens, but that is a whole different ball of wax.
I feel like however we were raised as kids from our generation seems like a way of life that doesn’t exist anymore. With the ridiculous availability of the Internet from every device out there, people are SO much lazier with finding out information- whether it’s about something in a book or how someone is doing. I know it’s a blessing to have the technology we have, but it has also drastically changed people. And what I’ve noticed that is similar to what you said y’all have seen out at restaurants, only it was a single DAD playing with his phone the entire time while his little kid was sitting there. It’s sad, but it’s definitely a conscious decision that you can have total control over 😀 so that’s the good news!
but that’s not to say I wasn’t a TV fan as a kid either 😉
As a teacher, I see everyday the intense impact TV has on children (both good and bad). I do believe in small doses children can be entertained by television and possibly learn from it. However, when TV is your other “babysitter” and you turn it on simply to quiet down your kiddos I have a big issue. I’m sure you will find the perfect balance for your family and what works best for you. Since you live a more active lifestyle- your child will probably take after you and want to be out in the world versus on the coach. 🙂 Congrats!
We have a screen time limit in our family. No more than 2 hours max. We fill the other hours with books, craft, outside/inside play & outings. As for being glued to game consoles/iphone’s etc while out to dinner, we do allow our children to play on electronics (or colour in) while out to dinner (especially when we are with friends). Our reasoning is that going to out to dinner is very much an adult enjoyment, to kids it is boring. It’s not fair to expect them to behave like adults when they are children, and bored children misbehave. So we let them colour in or use their electronic games. Happy Adults + Happy Children + Good Food = Great night out.
My grandma took me to the library constantly – which I absolutely adored – so reading was a much bigger part of my childhood than the tv. I remember always leaving the library with stacks of books – by the 3rd grade I could finish a The Babysitters Club book in one day (clearly not the most educational choice but they were AWESOME – Sweet Valley Twins too) I don’t remember there being limits on how long I was allowed to watch – but most of the things I watched were Eureka’s Castle, Mister Rogers, Sesame Street…and the Smurfs! As I got older though, I LOVED TGIF…Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Boy Meets World.. omg it was the best.
I have an almost 3 month old daughter and have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. Recently I have noticed when I am sitting on our couch with her in the evenings, her eyes seem glued to the television set (I am sure it is just because of all the light and colors 🙂 but I can’t help but wonder if I am starting a bad habit with her early on. I agree with not having a TV in the bedroom. We used to have one, and I don’t think I ever got a good night’s rest. As for television shows…my little one is still to young, but I did catch an episode of The Magic Schoolbus the other day..and I do love that show!
We didn’t have cable growing up bc my dad was pretty anti-TV but we got all the network stuff. He was strict with what we watched but it was my mom who was into the time limits. My brother and I each were allowed 1 hour a day. The upside of this, looking back on it, was that we always negotiated and came up with a show that both of us liked so that we could always be playing together instead of waiting for our playmate to finish up a TV show. I ended up foregoing things like Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite and watching A LOT of X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Spiderman. I was usually cool with anything that had a recurring female character 🙂