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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 08 2010 at 5:03pm | IP Logged
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Do you have a limit on how much tv your kids watch? If so, how much is it per day or week? Or do you restrict it completely?
If you do allow some time each day, what time do they generally watch it? Right when they wake up? After they finished all their work? Only on the weekends?
I have recently cut down on tv time to 0-30 min a day (minus the occasional weekend movie on our projector), and it's been wonderful. The house is messier, granted, but the elimination of guilt I would feel makes up for it. But alas, I need encouragement...I'm so worried I will slide back into old habits of just turning it on whenever I don't want little feet tripping me while I prep dinner! 
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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mathmama
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| Posted: Oct 08 2010 at 5:46pm | IP Logged
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Well, we really limit screen time in our house. Basically no tv in the summer time except on the occasional rainy day (then they usually watch Singing in the Rain ), but even then I rarely allow it. Sometimes when it is unbearably hot outside I will have them watch a movie before dinner. Sometimes on Sunday we will watch a movie together as a family if the weather isn't nice. I guess in our house tv is only really allowed when the weather is cruddy. It is only watched when school work is done for the day. They only watch a couple hours at a time, but it only happens once or twice a month. The only exceptions are when there is sickness. Unlimited tv is allowed when a child is sick.
We don't have cable or really useful rabbit ears so it is only videos in our house, thank God. I hate what my kids turn into after exposure to commercial tv (they watch it once a year when we visit my family for an extended period of time).
We have always limited screen time, but got really strict about it after I became a little too dependent on afternoon tv watching while I was pg and trying to get dinner made. That spring my kids behavior was at its worse  So one night I had dh put the tv away for the summer. It came back out in the fall a couple days after the baby was born. This past summer we didn't have to be so dramatic because the precedent had been set. The kids know not to even ask unless it is nasty outside, although my 3yo will often offer to draw the shades so we can't see the nice weather and hence can watch some tv
So, stay strong!! You are doing a great thing for your kids and your family  Sometimes a little suffering now (tripping over kids while making dinner) is much better than alot of suffering later (bad behavior, etc).
Beth
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 11 2010 at 12:25pm | IP Logged
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Yes, I was finding myself becoming too dependent, too. And I think it's okay when I'm throwing up due to morning sickness or whatever. But it just became a habit.
I wonder if I will feel more tempted once it gets colder and rainier. And I have a newborn in arms. 
Thanks for the encouragement, Beth!
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 11 2010 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
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Yes, they have three documentaries they watch through the week equalling 2.5hrs.
However DVDs are another story, we have rules, Friday afternoons only, but.. sometimes I get slack at policing 
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leanne maree
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| Posted: Oct 12 2010 at 12:34am | IP Logged
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I would say that dd watches less than an hour a day. sometimes none. So maybe 4 hours a week.
Once we got out of the habit of having the TV on it was fine to do without it.
My dh gets very distracted if he has the TV on at all when we are talking or if the news is on when we are getting dinner ready, so for that reason it stays off until very late evening.
We tape what we wish dd to watch.
We are watching snips of the Commonwealth Games though.
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Leanne
Loving wife to Dermot and Adoring mother to Louise, Kristie, Kieran & Brid
http://leannemaree.blogspot.com/
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Oct 12 2010 at 7:58am | IP Logged
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Usually the TV isn't turned on until 8 pm, which is when the kids go to bed. Friday or Saturday evenings we will have a family-sleep-out-in-the-living-room and watch a movie or two.
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 Paula
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Oct 12 2010 at 8:23am | IP Logged
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Did you ladies see this new study? Too much TV...
So, now we have a study to back up what we already knew
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 12 2010 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Did you ladies see this new study? Too much TV...
So, now we have a study to back up what we already knew |
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Thanks for the link. I suspect that in general, preschoolers watch more tv than school-age kids b/c they're home all day (and can be more exhausting for mama ). I'm curious to see the statistics on that. The Read Aloud Handbook has a good chapter on tv usage. One of the author's suspicions is that many kids have televisions in their rooms, and hence are losing sleep (not to mention reading less). That is undoubtedly going to affect test scores and behavior.
I have always been an "in moderation" type mom with most things. I'm okay with lolly pops and ice cream, just not for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm okay with video games if it's only for 30ish minutes each weekend. But when it comes to tv, I think it's too easy to slip from moderation to too much. After my first trimester when I would gag or throw up after reading aloud for more than a few minutes (and hence turned on the tv more often), I found my kids getting out of the habit of asking to be read to. And when they did pick out a book, it was Dora the Explorer (my SIL gave me a bunch of Dora books, and I just want to burn them. Not sure why I haven't yet, LOL). But since cutting out screen time, they are hungry for good books. Fun, wholesome read alouds, like The Seven Silly Eaters and Corduroy. It's all about habit with my kids. If I turn on the tv one morning, they expect it the next day. If I take the time to read to them when they wake up, they will come up eagerly to me with a book in hand when they come out of their rooms the following morning.
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 12 2010 at 4:22pm | IP Logged
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Dh emailed it to my teens and to me, it provided lots of conversation at our tea table last night 
leanne maree wrote:
| Once we got out of the habit of having the TV on it was fine to do without it. |
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Breaking the habit takes consistency especially with the little ones. When we slip back into bad habits I find it generally takes up to three days before they stop asking. And then, the imagination and outside time, the craft activities increases. 
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Screen time
