Vegetables or TV in the Car

Well, we finally did it. We let the kids watch TV in the van. I know they would've been fine without it, but we did it.  Having intentionally purchased a vehicle without a DVD/TV, this involved hooking the I-Pad to the driver seat and running an audio cord through the car stereo. Not complicated, but I feel a little conflicted about it.

We're not crazy; I think a little TV every now and then is fine. Goodness knows I have no room for judgement here, considering I have been streaming "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" on Amazon Prime on the laptop while cooking dinner lately. During the school week, the kids watch absolutely nothing; we don't have time. On the weekends, they'll watch a show or two if Blaine and I are sleeping in on "late hockey" days.

I was proud we weathered the 12 hour ride to Atlanta without the video distraction this summer. But in planning our trip to Joplin, a 14 hour car ride each way (with 10 hour and 4 hour legs each way) is well, 14 hours plus stops- each way-so 28 hours total- which is more than an entire day. (That's a long time to be restricted in a 5-point harness in a car seat.) I'm making excuses- and we did it.  We did turn it off in between shows (often at the kid's request) to listen to Christmas songs, play "6 Things" or "I Spy," read books (they can read in the car without getting sick!), play action figures/babies, or draw. But we did it.

I want to be able to say something philosophical about it, but I think it just is what it is. I would never ring my hands if I slipped in a kid show for those jokers to watch on a sick day or to give me some cooking space on a hectic dinner night. I do wonder why I think it's so terrible to use it as something to do on a 28 hour plus car trip.

On the plus side, I did see my kids negotiate taking turns picking the show,  Fran being a caretaker and screen-tapper for his sister, the kids learning more of the words to the songs in "Free to Be You and Me," and the kids being good sports when we turned it off to do other things.

But I'm sad that every car trip now has the decision to make: "Do we watch or not?" Still, using a portable device means I can leave it in a bag and pull it out of a bag of tricks if the tricks are needed, like I do with food, stickers, or a new book.  Also, as Claudia gets older, she'll be able to sustain other travel games better, like magnetic checkers and travel Blokus and hopefully, she will share our love of Harry Potter so we can do audio books. We love HP audio books!

Maybe I'm really just upset that this morning when we loaded up the van to ride to brunch in Chelsea, Claudia asked if she could watch Olivia on the way.* We said no and explained that we only use the I-Pad for watching if it's a really long ride.

I don't know, it depends on who you ask, but some people do think Chelsea is pretty far.

Claude was playing babies and Fran was doing a sticker book while the video plays.
Phew, no one is staringslack-jawed at the screen.
But they are learning that "It's Alright to Cry," which clearly they already knew.

*This could be about Olivia- not just TV in the van-she loves that pig!

The Idiot Box

Yesterday was one of those days. Claude was up early. So we let her watch a few shows.

What started as an early-morning ended up being a running-late-morning.

Clearly, TV and mornings don't work in our house. During winter break, we put morning TV on holiday hiatus. By 8:30 am the children had eaten breakfast, read books, gotten dressed, played play-doh, and made holiday cards. It was amazing.

So after yesterday's shenanigans (and seeing Claude stare slack-jawed at the youtube clip on the computer at Childwatch), I have reinstated the morning hiatus. And today, it was greeted without a fuss. Instead, Claude climbed in our bed at 7:15, snuggled for a spell, and then asked her Daddy to read her a book.

Now, we live in a house where the TV rests in a cabinet with closed doors. It is not played after school-- we are too busy with the ice rink and dress up and the park. We are careful and cautious about media usage. That being said, I have relied on TV to make dinner, place a work call, or get through a sick day. But it's disturbing to add up a child's weekly media usage (iphone games, computer, TV, etc) and realize they essentially have a part-time job. And it's also upsetting to see TVs in schools, restaurants, child-care environments, airports, and stores just providing noise. Also, children are so impressionable to advertising. After watching a hockey game on TV, Francis insisted, in an Australian accent, that I needed the Jupiter Jack.

So, today, we turned the TV off and had a very peaceful start to our day. It did mean that Blaine and I had to drag our tushes out of bed a bit sooner, losing that respite that Dora the Explorer could provide.

To that I say: Roderiques, 1: TV, 0.