Anonymous wrote:
I have never seen anyone have health problems from NOT watching TV or eating fast food, but I know lots of examples of the opposite. So, if my child wants to find out if he is the type of person who can watch TV for hours on end without getting depressed or crabby and/or eat fast food regularly without getting fat, he is going to have to figure that out on his own as an adult: I am not going to be running that experiment on him as a child.

LOVE this. Exactly. This is why the people who are getting all defensive about their television use and eating habits are bothering me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Confession: I think parents who let their kids watch more than a show or two a week are lazy. Seriously, your kid can't occupy himself for 20 minutes while you get ready for work in the morning? And yes, I work full-time and have two kids under 4. Neither of whom have watched more than a show or two at a friend's house.

They don't watch television because they don't spend any time at home. They spend their lives in a daycare center.

No, we have an excellent nanny who works part-time and they're with their grandmother the rest of the time. Both the nanny and grandmother actually plan fun activities and play with them all day (or they're able to entertain themselves for short periods of time while their caretaker makes lunch or whatever without having to park them in front of the TV). And we're home in the evenings and all weekends and they STILL don't watch TV.

NP here. I only have a baby, so as of now he neither watches TV nor eats McD's (or solid food of any kind). We have a TV without cable, and I watch several hours of TV a week on Hulu or Netflix (most of the time I prefer to wait for the DVD and avoid commercials, personally).

That being said, I find it odd that people are defending TV and fast food like it's the bald eagle or the Statue of Liberty or something. (I also find it odd that some people on here always become so defensive whenever someone says they do anything differently in their household, so maybe it's just an extension of that.) I think it's especially spurious to claim that kids are going to hate their parents for depriving them of crappy food. My family ate out nearly every night when I was in high school, and mostly fast food because that was what we could afford 7 days a week. I grew to hate it: my parents were obese, and the people working in all the fast food places in town recognized us. I wished we were like normal families eating at home, honestly, and I certainly didn't think that other kids not eating like this were deprived. And yes, I know most people on here are talking about a few times a month: I'm responding more to the attacks than to the actual frequency that people are talking about. I'm sure that age has a lot to do with it, as my brother who was in elementary school at the time is a total fast food addict and also dangerously obese; he spent his childhood watching TV constantly, too (we didn't have one when I was young) and now struggles with it and compulsive video gaming as an adult.

I have never seen anyone have health problems from NOT watching TV or eating fast food, but I know lots of examples of the opposite. So, if my child wants to find out if he is the type of person who can watch TV for hours on end without getting depressed or crabby and/or eat fast food regularly without getting fat, he is going to have to figure that out on his own as an adult: I am not going to be running that experiment on him as a child.

Anonymous wrote:If you are working mother, of course your kids don't watch television during week! If you work a full time job, you pick your kids up around 5:30-6 from daycare, right? You might get home by 6:30. If you can throw supper together quickly you might eat around 7? (I'm guessing here....I'm a stay-at-home mother.) Your children are in bed by 7:30-8pm, right? That leaves barely enough time to give them a bath and put them to bed.

Actually, I pick my kids up from SACC between 4 and 4:30 pm (two different schools) and then there is homework, after-school activities, dinner, family time, reading, showers, and bedtime. No TV in there during the school week.

Anonymous wrote:Confession: I think parents who let their kids watch more than a show or two a week are lazy. Seriously, your kid can't occupy himself for 20 minutes while you get ready for work in the morning? And yes, I work full-time and have two kids under 4. Neither of whom have watched more than a show or two at a friend's house.

They don't watch television because they don't spend any time at home. They spend their lives in a daycare center.

If you are working mother, of course your kids don't watch television during week! If you work a full time job, you pick your kids up around 5:30-6 from daycare, right? You might get home by 6:30. If you can throw supper together quickly you might eat around 7? (I'm guessing here....I'm a stay-at-home mother.) Your children are in bed by 7:30-8pm, right? That leaves barely enough time to give them a bath and put them to bed.

Let's be honest, during the week, you might see your kids for an hour or two in the evening. And most of that is taken up with cooking, cleaning up, and bedtime.

well christ, if you are using the internet to watch tv, then you still watch television programing. that was not my point. I think it bizarre to not watch ANY television.

are these all chinese tiger moms? seriously, I'm curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just cannot understand not having a tv in your house. This is 2011.

What does this even mean? As if TV is some sort of great social progress.

Have to agree. This is rather hilarious. "I just cannot understand not having a kegerator in your house! This is 2011!"

Totally nonsensical. Especially in light of this thing called The Internets.

DH and I watch an s-load of TV on weekday evenings. Glee, Modern Family, the Office, the like... and we use Netflix a lot. Proud of it.

Confession: I think parents who let their kids watch more than a show or two a week are lazy. Seriously, your kid can't occupy himself for 20 minutes while you get ready for work in the morning? And yes, I work full-time and have two kids under 4. Neither of whom have watched more than a show or two at a friend's house.

Anonymous wrote:I just cannot understand not having a tv in your house. This is 2011.

Many shows/movies can be watch online...Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, etc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
To those parents who say they can't "fill the day" without TV - seriously? I am happy that my kid makes up games to play on her own and is never bored. Parking them in front of the TV just seems like such a cop-out.

That's because you have one child who's a girl and young. My nieces don't "need" TV either. They also have never, in my observation, needed to be told to calm down and stop tearing around the house. You really can't understand what having three boy age 5 and under is like. Why don't you parent my kids for a week? You might see the utility of TV.

I do have another child actually, but I can imagine that three young boys is tough and I certainly don't discount that. Frankly it seems like the pro-TV are people are just as angry and judgemental. There have been numerous posts on here about how we're over-restrictive social morons if we don't have a TV. Our preference is not to watch TV - we think it's a giant time-suck. So we don't have one. We have other ways we like to spend the day. Your preference is to watch TV because you enjoy it or because it calms your kids down or whatever. Great.