About Carly Cooper
A certified Life Coach for Moms and creator of www.balance-the-mother-load.com, Carly Cooper’s blog offers helpful strategies for mothers struggling with guilt, unrealistic expectations and the inability to balance it all – with a generous dose of laughter.
Hail to Barney
balance the mother load canada
(Dec.09.09)
It's true, there was a time not so long ago that I wished death on Barney the purple dinosaur. In fact, mascots of any kind tend to creep me out. I feel like the person inside is either part of the witness protection program or chose this option over picking up garbage on the side of the road for his community service. Either way, they're sketchy and I don't want my kid hanging around them.
But there's some undeniable power that Barney has over kids. Have you ever seen the ones on the show? They're overly happy and extremely well mannered. It's like they're members of a cult! The last episode we watched, I looked to see if the kids were wearing matching black and white Nike shoes.
Barney and other TV shows are hypnotizing to kids. My son gets so entranced when he watches that he starts to drool almost as much as I do when I see anything deep fried. That's when I knew I could use TV to my advantage. Let's face it, getting a toddler to do anything the first time you ask is about as realistic as me getting a call to be Gisele Bundchen's body double. But threaten to take TV time away or better yet, offer to do things IN FRONT of the TV, and that's a bigger guarantee than Simon Cowell insulting someone on American Idol.
If you're a mom with ears, you've heard from many "experts" saying that TV should not be viewed by kids under the age of 3. If you're one of these moms who abides by this rule, good for you. Your day is probably jam packed with playdates, activities and lots of Valium. But what do you do when the Valium stops working on your child? When do you get a break?
I'm not suggesting to keep the TV on all day. I'm all about physical activity and mental stimulation. And I feel very strongly that toddlers watch age appropriate shows. When my son was a newborn, I watched episode after episode of The Sopranos while I breastfed. But I wouldn't watch that in front of him now. So far, he hasn't turned into a mobster. Granted, the other night when I asked him to get in the bath he turned to me and said "Forgedaboudit." Kids say the darnedest things, don't they?
My point is, watching a little bit of TV during the day, isn't going to turn your kid into a lazy, overweight, menace to society. It's your job as a parent to monitor what your kids watch and how much time they spend in front of the TV.
There are some amazing and not so annoying shows out there for kids. Some of my personal favourites are Sesame Street, Elmo's World, The Backyardigans, and The Wonder Pets. But if my son begs for Barney and it means I can effortlessly cut his nails, get him dressed and occasionally sneak out to see a movie without him noticing, I can put my feelings aside and embrace the potential predator that lurks inside.
What do you think? Is watching a bit of TV here and there OK for the under 3 set?
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