[email protected]

In a message dated 1/5/2007 4:58:05 PM Eastern Standard Time,
plaidpanties666@... writes:

I don't always enjoy the same shows Mo does, but its worth it to me
to share her interests and discover ways to offer her more ideas and
options based on those interests.


I have come a long way in this department. From completely controlling what
my oldest watched when he was young AND previewing every moment of everything
he watched to letting go of my last hold out: Spongebob Square Pants. Even
though I couldn't honestly say I like the show (I used to say I hated it), I
do watch with Wyl some times, but on the days there are 2 or more hour
marathons, I just can't bring myself to watch it all with him-even while doing
something else while we watch. Is there just a further step to this and I haven't
reached the point yet where I can watch it for hours? I don't control his
viewing any more. When I get to a point that it is just too much for me, I
either go find something else to do or ask if we can watch something else-usually
offering to record it for him to watch at another time. I can sometimes
partially tune it out while I'm in the room but my ability here is limited, and
the theme song is too much for me. This particular show is just one of those
things that provokes such a strong reaction in me that it behooves me to delve
more deeply into the whys and wherefores of it all, and I often get good
guidance from more experienced unschoolers on "strong reaction" themes like this
(for me).

Peace,
Sang

Wyl 4/99 and Storm 10/04



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-I do watch with Wyl some times, but on the days there are 2 or
more hour
marathons, I just can't bring myself to watch it all with him-even
while doing
something else while we watch. Is there just a further step to this
and I haven't
reached the point yet where I can watch it for hours?-=-

Watching enough to know what it is helps. If you know enough that if
he tells you a story about something he saw you have an idea who the
characters are is really great for him.

-=-This particular show is just one of those
things that provokes such a strong reaction in me that it behooves me
to delve
more deeply into the whys and wherefores of it all, and I often get good
guidance from more experienced unschoolers on "strong reaction"
themes like this
(for me). -=-

When I start to feel the sharp grating jangly feeling, I try to
breath through it and think GOOD thoughts about what they're doing
and learning. Marty listens to a lot of hip hop and rap music,
which doesn't make me think lovely thoughts. I joke with him a
couple of times that I was afraid it would make him steal cars. But
what I thought yesterday was "He's preparing for the next time we
play Encore, and I really want him on my team." Plus, he sings
along, and I like to hear his voice. Those songs have TONS of
words, and Marty has a good memory. It all adds to his growing cross-
referenceable data-base of phrases and words and people and music and
times.

When I drive the car after Marty and he had the radio on to a station
I don't usually listen to, I let the first whole song play and then I
decide whether to change it or put something else in. Since we don't
ride in the car so much together anymore, I don't get to share
directly. A couple of times I've been curious enough about the song
to come home and ask him more. Once he showed me the video of one of
them, online. The singer had died recently, and he knew the details
of that. (A female, so some of you might know; it was about a baby.
I'd ask him, but he's asleep.)

At the second Live and Learn conference, at the end of the talent
show, Bob Wilkinson started singing the Spongebob Squarepants
themesong and the whole room exploded in happy sing-along. I didn't
know it because my kids are older and we don't have cable, but Marty
(who was 14 that year) knew it from being at other people's houses or
hearing it somewhere. Holly (who wasn't there) knew it from hanging
out with neighbors.

Probably some adults thought they were dumb in the 60's, but Keith
and I were singing old TV themesongs for Holly a few weeks ago, and
it turns out Keith remembered the whole song from F-Troop,which was a
pretty cool song (a little like Super Chicken, which we also sang for
her), but she knows some of those because we have a CD of TV theme
songs. Because Holly was so patient and attentive as we sang songs
from shows she hadn't seen, for Christmas I found her a CD of more
recent TV themesongs. Many of them are just little instrumental bits
because themesongs aren't generally as cool (or as long!) as they
used to be; commercials are worth a lot more money now. She was
really happy with it and told me later some of the best things that
were there.

I think I'm saying try to see the bigger picture.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kelli Traaseth

***I just can't bring myself to watch it all with him-even while doing
something else while we watch. Is there just a further step to this and I haven't
reached the point yet where I can watch it for hours?****

It was somewhat annoying to me too,, a few years ago. Pre-unschooling. :)

But gosh,, the joy that comes from that show.

Here's some reasons why Kyra (ds9) loves Spongebob:

1. He's always happy.
2. I learned what a goober was. (She knew what goober was when playing Balderdash :D and a lot of adults didn't ;) (so its educational,,if that matters <g> And that's from the Spongebob movie. She says its a peanut, by the way.)
3. His songs are awesome. (We had to order a cd from the show. And she got up at the Live and Learn conference and sang one. :D)
4. His pet Gary always goes "meow", who is a snail. <g>

I think if you can see the happiness and pleasure that comes to your child from these things, (shows/movies/games/music,or insert anything else that parents don't like), it can in turn wash over those feelings of discomfort or annoyance.
And it can bring a great joy to you too. Its awesome. :)




Kelli~


http://ourjoyfullife.blogspot.com/

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." ~Anais Nin



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Gold Standard

When my kids were younger, I noticed that I could see the same movie with my
friends and with my kids and have two completely different reactions to the
movie. With my friends, I could just let loose and embrace the movie's
themes and issues and love the movie. I could hate the same movie when
seeing it with my kids, because I wouldn't like how the themes and issues
were handled, or the images being shown, or whatever. I was watching the
movie through different eyes. It was a subconscious thing...internally I was
concerned with how it was effecting my kids, mad that it wasn't introducing
something to them the way that I would.

So this thought isn't exactly parallel with Spongebob, but I wonder if
Spongebob creates some of that with people. Maybe the silliness feels too
trivial? Or the characters seem too "out there"?

I absolutely LOVE Spongebob...love listening to my teenagers burst out in
the song out of nowhere, love watching the kids catch all the little jokes
and nuances that are strewn throughout (they catch these so much more than I
do), love the characters, storylines...it is just such a brilliant show.

But with my kids all being teenagers, I may not have the sensitivities that
I might have if they were younger. Not that it would change the unlimited
viewing...just that my own internal reaction may have been different than it
is now. Having that internal reaction has been something to watch for me. It
was work to recognize it as my own and not have it control a situation with
my children. I did take mental notes when my kids saw something that I
thought was really off to bring up in discussions later on. Usually they
were pretty insightful to what was going on. And the discussions were often
rich and useful.

Jacki


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joanna Wilkinson

>
> At the second Live and Learn conference, at the end of the talent
> show, Bob Wilkinson started singing the Spongebob Squarepants
> themesong and the whole room exploded in happy sing-along.

He was really nervous about getting up and doing that. I'll let him
know you mentioned him. Sam used to sing the Beach Boys type song
from Sponge Bob about "the Fool who went and Ripped His Pants" It's
one of my favorite memories. Right before you say "ripped his
pants" in the song, you turn and stick out your butt and make a
ripping sound. We LOVE Sponge Bob here. My oldest Carly married him
a few years ago. She has a stuffed Sponge Bob and she invited
friends over and had the ceremony and reception. Her friend Katie
had a huge Sponge Bob wearing a sombrero (El Sponge Bob-o) who
performed the ceremony. All the girls dressed up. It was cool.



> Probably some adults thought they were dumb in the 60's, but Keith
> and I were singing old TV themesongs for Holly a few weeks ago,
and
> it turns out Keith remembered the whole song from F-Troop,which was
a
> pretty cool song (a little like Super Chicken, which we also sang
for
> her), but she knows some of those because we have a CD of TV theme
> songs.


Bob got a Lone Ranger DVD for $1 which has the 1st 3 episodes on it.
My youngest 2 Jack and Jamie watched it with facination. We were on
a trip and I was driving so I could only hear the dialogue. It was
really funny to hear. But they loved it. After it was over, we were
talking about the shows and Bob remembered the old joke, "where does
the Lone Ranger take his trash?" ....
"to the dump, to the dump, to the dump dump dump". They totally got
it because they had just heard the theme song a few times with each
episode. They have told the joke quite a bit since. Older people
laugh, younger people look at them in confusion.

Joanna

Karen

On 07/01/07, Gold Standard <jacki@...> wrote:
So this thought isn't exactly parallel with Spongebob, but I wonder if
Spongebob creates some of that with people. Maybe the silliness feels too
trivial? Or the characters seem too "out there"?

I absolutely LOVE Spongebob...love listening to my teenagers burst out in
the song out of nowhere, love watching the kids catch all the little jokes
and nuances that are strewn throughout (they catch these so much more than I
do), love the characters, storylines...it is just such a brilliant show.

My 2c on Sponge,

Intially through ignorance I avoided Spongebob for my two girls, but we
watched it at a friends house (about a year ago) and I realised there are
some wonderful themes in the shows. Friendship, sharing, not being cowed by
people being unkind, honesty, yeah sounds cornball but it is done in a very
cool way. Sure it's silly but we love silly, there are too many people in
the world that take themselves way too seriously.

So now I love Spongebob too and yes, we break out into tunes often and mimic
the voices of the characters.

I also have older children and I do think I've relaxed a lot over the years,
I still like to be around new movies to talk through anything the girls are
uncomfortable or curious about and I still cringe when they stumble across
music videos, I think most of them give a very bad ideal of woman.

Karen



>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

plaidpanties666

Wow! Jacki, that's a great point. I hadn't considered that, and I'll
have to think about it - and watch even more tv with my kid ;)

It doesn't work for Dora, though, although she's waaaaay less
irritating as a computer game. In the games, she only repeats
herself if you <click> the same place over and over.

---Meredith



--- In [email protected], "Gold Standard" <jacki@...>
wrote:
>
> When my kids were younger, I noticed that I could see the same
movie with my
> friends and with my kids and have two completely different
reactions to the
> movie. With my friends, I could just let loose and embrace the
movie's
> themes and issues and love the movie. I could hate the same movie
when
> seeing it with my kids, because I wouldn't like how the themes and
issues
> were handled, or the images being shown, or whatever. I was
watching the
> movie through different eyes. It was a subconscious
thing...internally I was
> concerned with how it was effecting my kids, mad that it wasn't
introducing
> something to them the way that I would.

queenjane555

> Probably some adults thought they were dumb in the 60's, but Keith
>and I were singing old TV themesongs for Holly a few weeks ago,
>and it turns out Keith remembered the whole song from F-
>Troop,which was a pretty cool song (a little like Super Chicken,
>which we also sang for her), but she knows some of those because
>we have a CD of TV theme songs.

The other day i was cleaning out the storage room and found a big
box of old VHS movies. I had mentioned to Seamus previously, about a
movie called "Baby" about a dinosaur some scientists find in the
rain forest or something. Early to mid 80s, really bad special
effects compared to the post-"Jurassic Park" era. So when i found it
in this box, we played it, and i said "Oh there's William Katt!" and
started singing The Greatest American Hero theme song. It was HUGE
at the time of the (short lived)TV show, but of course Seamus didnt
recognize it. We have the series coming on Netflix too...i was
looking for info on "V" (the miniseries and tv show from '83-'85)on
IMDB (talk about connections....everything is connected there!
wow...)and was led to different pages for all the shows of my
childhood. There was a show i really wanted to get from Netflix
called Voyagers! that isnt available, about a boy who's dad is a
history professor, the kid gets basically stuck travelling through
time with this "Voyager" guy. And because the kid knows alot about
history, and the Voyager doesnt, the kid is helpful. Incidentally,
the kid actor is Meeno Peluce, who is the half brother of Soleil
Moon Fry who was "Punky Brewster". I read the Peluce is now a
teacher at Hollywood High...or something like that.

We watched the entire "V" series including the two mini-series and
all the tv show episodes, and had a bunch of interesting
conversations about special effects, clothing, music...not to
mention about how a perfectly entertaining miniseries can degerate
to the point of being almost ridiculous and unwatchable by the last
episode. We talked about the really successful and famous actors who
were on V early in their careers (like Michael Ironside and Robert
Englund)...on and on. Plus it was really fun to watch together. If
Greatest American Hero is painful to watch, i have no problem
sending it right back, which is the great thing about Netflix, no
commitment.


Anyway, i'm just so amazed when people complain about tv. We love
tv. Lots and Lots. My son has been watching Naruto online, i think
he's watched 200 episodes or something, all thats available on
YouTube. I LOVE that he loves it. I think its GREAT when kids are so
passionate about something, i don't care what it is. In fact, i
think i need to at least watch a couple of episodes of Naruto since
i don't know anything about it, and if he likes it so much there is
probably *something* about it i will enjoy. I'd like to be able to
have a conversation about the characters and plotlines and not be
lost.

A mother on a non-HSing list i'm on was complaining about her son
staying up late watching Naruto. Like it was an addiction. I just
don't get it.


Katherine

Sandra Dodd

-=-A mother on a non-HSing list i'm on was complaining about her son
staying up late watching Naruto. Like it was an addiction. I just
don't get it.
-=-

Some moms are unhappy and want something to blame.
Some moms thought maybe they would be the center of their children's
universes until wedding days or something.

It mystifies me, and embarrasses me, when other moms don't revel in
their children's interests, and when moms don't assume that their
children are intelligent people who are making choices based on
what's interesting and thought-provoking.

Some people are jealous not to be in other people's thoughts all the
time, maybe. Or for others to have thoughts they didn't approve or
initiate.

One time a homeschooling mom gushed that homeschooling was wonderful
because "you get to be your child's only teacher."

eeep.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Emily Smith

"But with my kids all being teenagers, I may not have the sensitivities that
I might have if they were younger"

Mine are 3 and just turned 6. We love Spongebob and it's one of their favorites that DH and I enjoy too. I guess we kind of encourage it because it makes family viewing more tolerable; I can't sit through Dora and if Baby Bear is on Sesame Street I have to leave the room for fear of chucking the TV through the window.

Emily




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Y_be_Norml

>>>It mystifies me, and embarrasses me, when other moms don't revel in
their children's interests, and when moms don't assume that their
children are intelligent people who are making choices based on
what's interesting and thought-provoking.<<

Some things are hard to wrap your head around. If it's not familiar to you so you shun it. I noticed I had been doing that with my son and his games. So I have tried get more involved in my son interests. We all got game boy advances and my son insisted we all get the same fire red version Pokee'mon game so we can trade and link up. Despite my resistance at first, and to my surprise, I'm having loads of fun playing the game and collecting all the creatures. I just collected a rare Snorlax and was jumping and squealing like a little girl when I caught it. My DH and son had lost their opportunity to catch one so it was a huge deal. My son caught me a Ponyta and traded it to me and I caught a Pokemon and am raising it in the day care to trade to my son later when it levels up to a higher level. I told him he can borrow my Snorlax sense he doesn't have one and he can never catch one. He was so thrilled to have us as a buddy on the game.

Any way we were at bowling last week and I was talking to this other little boy and I told him about my rare catch of the Snorlax and he was so surprised that I had a game boy let alone was playing a Pokemon game. I had to bring out my game to prove it. We stated talking game strategy and I told him how I finally caught my Snorlax and he was like wow!!! that was good strategy. Then he said something that was really surprising. He told me how wonderful it was to talk to me because us old parents hardly ever make attempt to learn or like what they, the kids are interested in. He said how cool it was that I was playing a "kids game" and how he wished more parents and old people would do that. Yes we're old people to them UGH...

There are some of the new games I just can't play or watch at all. I actually get vertigo watching them, nauseous and very sick. UGH some are just awful . I had started rejecting them and refused to be around them at all with my son. It really started showing the disconnect between us. I had to find a way to be involved and understand the game strategy with out playing and watching the games. I then showed him how to google game cheat codes and figure out how to reach different levels and different sections. He always on my computer printing off game stuff and reading up about the games. And because I have found other ways to be involved he now knows I was not just ignoring his interests but that I have a reason for not playing most of the games he loves.

But it looked like I just hated all games. He felt bad, he wanted to share all this exciting info and game stuff with me but didn't as he thought I would be negative and put it down. He was unhappy because he felt he couldn't talk to me about a very important part of his life, his games. I know this because my wise little boy told me so. That's when I realized I had been sending him the wrong message.

Now we have one or two games we can play. I still have our very first Nintendo game station and I pulled out the first Zelda game and the first Mario bro. game. Now those I can play. I may not be able to play all the games but I can ask him if he got to the next level or if he found the item he was looking for or what ever it is. And I can learn as much about the game as possible. He knows that I know the names of the characters and the goals of the game and we talk to each other about the games. He's not trying to hide or keep to himself something that is important to him. He knows he can come to me about anything. It saddened me that he was unhappy thinking I disapproved of something he really enjoyed, that some how this disapproval was how I felt about him too. That's how he was seeing it. I hope he now knows different. T




---- Original Message -----
From: Sandra Dodd<mailto:Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 7:28 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Watching enough WITH him? WAS: Re: My 4 year old and the DVD pl


-=-A mother on a non-HSing list i'm on was complaining about her son
staying up late watching Naruto. Like it was an addiction. I just
don't get it.
-=-

Some moms are unhappy and want something to blame.
Some moms thought maybe they would be the center of their children's
universes until wedding days or something.

It mystifies me, and embarrasses me, when other moms don't revel in
their children's interests, and when moms don't assume that their
children are intelligent people who are making choices based on
what's interesting and thought-provoking.

Some people are jealous not to be in other people's thoughts all the
time, maybe. Or for others to have thoughts they didn't approve or
initiate.

One time a homeschooling mom gushed that homeschooling was wonderful
because "you get to be your child's only teacher."

eeep.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

mcclan113

I'm in the same category with you as far as not wanting to sit and
watch spongebob. I really dont get the appeal. Is there anything you
could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch? 2 or more
hour marathons eh? Not going to happen in this house, sorry.--- In
[email protected], Sanguinegirl83@... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 1/5/2007 4:58:05 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> plaidpanties666@... writes:
>
> I don't always enjoy the same shows Mo does, but its worth it to
me
> to share her interests and discover ways to offer her more ideas
and
> options based on those interests.
>
>
> I have come a long way in this department. From completely
controlling what
> my oldest watched when he was young AND previewing every moment of
everything
> he watched to letting go of my last hold out: Spongebob Square
Pants. Even
> though I couldn't honestly say I like the show (I used to say I
hated it), I
> do watch with Wyl some times, but on the days there are 2 or more
hour
> marathons, I just can't bring myself to watch it all with him-even
while doing
> something else while we watch. Is there just a further step to
this and I haven't
> reached the point yet where I can watch it for hours? I don't
control his
> viewing any more. When I get to a point that it is just too much
for me, I
> either go find something else to do or ask if we can watch
something else-usually
> offering to record it for him to watch at another time. I can
sometimes
> partially tune it out while I'm in the room but my ability here is
limited, and
> the theme song is too much for me. This particular show is just
one of those
> things that provokes such a strong reaction in me that it behooves
me to delve
> more deeply into the whys and wherefores of it all, and I often
get good
> guidance from more experienced unschoolers on "strong reaction"
themes like this
> (for me).
>
> Peace,
> Sang
>
> Wyl 4/99 and Storm 10/04
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Pamela Sorooshian

On Jan 6, 2007, at 8:59 PM, mcclan113 wrote:

> I'm in the same category with you as far as not wanting to sit and
> watch spongebob. I really dont get the appeal. Is there anything you
> could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch?

SpongeBob uses language in really funny ways - LOTS of puns. So maybe
you could enjoy it if you focused on the idea that your child is
enjoying playing with words/language. After years of unschooling, you
won't any longer feel a need to look for the learning that is
happening because you'll be confident that learning WILL happen
whether you watch for it or not <G>. But, when kids are little and
parents are just getting started unschooling, it isn't a bad idea to
pay attention to what the child might be learning from their chosen
activities.

If you support their interests, you're are supporting learning.
Starting when their young means you have a kid who still loves to
learn when he/she reaches the ages that most kids in the wider
population have become dulled, resistant, apathetic.

It is a worthy goal and not discounting the interests of your child
EVEN when they don't fit your image of valuable learning activities
is a big step toward it.

-pam

Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Pamela Sorooshian

I just can't let that paragraph stand - too many mistakes. So here it
is again:

If you support a kid's interests, you are supporting learning.
Starting when he's young means you'll have a kid who still loves to
learn when he reaches an age at which most kids in the wider
population have become dulled, resistant, and apathetic.

On Jan 6, 2007, at 9:14 PM, Pamela Sorooshian wrote:

> If you support their interests, you're are supporting learning.
> Starting when their young means you have a kid who still loves to
> learn when he/she reaches the ages that most kids in the wider
> population have become dulled, resistant, apathetic.

Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Gold Standard

>>Is there anything you
>>could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch?<<

This would be like your husband coming to you as your reading a fabulous
book that he just doesn't get and saying, "Honey, is there something else
you could do besides read that book? How about getting that crocheting
out...or taking a bike ride...anything but reading that book..." How would
you feel about that? Wouldn't it foster your relationship a whole lot more
if he said, "Tell me about that book...what do you like about it? What's the
story about?"

>>2 or more
>>hour marathons eh? Not going to happen in this house, sorry.<<


I'm guessing that you are one of the new nine members...

By taking this control in your home, you are putting your preferences over
your relationship with your child(ren).

That may not seem like a problem, and in fact may even seem to be the way it
should be, but it is not in line with the philosophy of unschooling. The
more you say "yes" and get into your child's interests, the more you see
through the wonder of your child's eyes, the more you embrace what your
child likes and stop saying "not going to happen in this house", the
stronger your bond with your child will be (for a lifetime!) and the richer
your lives will be together. There a many of us who know this, who live it,
and who can vouch for it.

Jacki

Kathleen Whitfield

on 1/6/07 4:07 PM, plaidpanties666 at plaidpanties666@... wrote:

>It doesn't work for Dora, though, although she's waaaaay less
>irritating as a computer game. In the games, she only repeats
>herself if you <click> the same place over and over.

My youngest *really* loves Dora (he's almost 3) and my just-turned-5yo likes
her, but not as much as they used to. I've seen a lot of Dora.

The kids get a kick out of Dora language (which is incredibly repetitious)
being brought into our life. I was buckling my youngest his carseat, and my
8yo said: "Seatbelts! So we can be safe!" which they say in the show any
time someone gets into a vehicle. Everyone laughed. My 8yo also "plays Dora"
with them, which she enjoys and which delights the younger ones.

Also, both the 2yo and the 5yo are *very* into maps, which seems to be
something that came from watching Dora.

Kathleen
in SoCal


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

plaidpanties666

--- In [email protected], "mcclan113" <la_tree@...> wrote:
>Is there anything you
> could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch?

Yesterday, while bouncing back and forth between Spongebob and Fairly
Oddparents, my dd (5) built assorted sculptures with marshmallows and
toothpicks, designed and created two different styles of backpack,
drew a gazillion pictures and wrote about some of them, wrote letters
to several differernt people (including Spongebob) and made her own
envelopes, sorted and counted the money in her piggy-bank, made a
cake, asked to try a new food, and generally bounced around the
livingroom, dancing, spinning and jumping. When she finally came to
bed she used the most words I've Ever heard her string together (she's
not very talkative) to explain the plot of the last episode she had
watched.

---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)

Sandra Dodd

-=-Yesterday, while bouncing back and forth between Spongebob and Fairly
Oddparents, my dd (5) built assorted sculptures with marshmallows and
toothpicks, designed and created two different styles of backpack,
drew a gazillion pictures and wrote about some of them, wrote letters
to several differernt people (including Spongebob) and made her own
envelopes, sorted and counted the money in her piggy-bank, made a
cake, asked to try a new food, and generally bounced around the
livingroom, dancing, spinning and jumping. When she finally came to
bed she used the most words I've Ever heard her string together (she's
not very talkative) to explain the plot of the last episode she had
watched.

---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)-=-

That's not going to happen, sorry, in a house where parents forbid or
limit TV.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Is there anything you
could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch? -=-

The fallacy is that they "sit" and watch, exclusively.

There's a lot of movement and activity, when kids aren't TOLD "sit
still and watch" (which does happen in some homes).

On the other hand, if a child is sitting in rapt attention, try not
to interrupt him. He's really concentration. Maybe he's not even
concentrating on what's on the TV, but thinking is thinking and it's
the means of learning.


-=-2 or more hour marathons eh? Not going to happen in this house,
sorry.-=-

Are you apologizing to the people on this list?

If a child read a book for two hours straight would you say "not
going to happen in this house, sorry"?

http://sandradodd.com/t/peace (something new is that that I was sent
yesterday by Dayna Martin)
http://sandradodd.com/t/holly (I added Meredith's new response there)

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joyce Fetteroll

On Jan 6, 2007, at 7:28 PM, Sandra Dodd wrote:

> Some moms are unhappy and want something to blame.
> Some moms thought maybe they would be the center of their children's
> universes until wedding days or something.

And I think a lot of moms go into motherhood with the idea of molding
and shaping a child into an admirable adult (who demonstrates what a
good job she's doing by passing through admirable child stages on
their way to adulthood.)

When a child has ideas and likes that are different from what the mom
has in mind as ideal, it, she feels, reflects on her abilities as a
mother.

How many mothers would feel it speaks of their excellent parenting if
their child prefers nature shows to SpongeBob, checks out huge piles
of nonfiction books from the library, is a competitive gymnast at 12?

How many mothers would feel it speaks of their failure as a parent if
their child spends huge amounts of time playing video games or
skateboarding or trading fart jokes?

It's probably part of the children born as sinful creatures idea.
Presumably anyone can raise a child who loves TV. It's what children
will do naturally (it's assumed). But it (presumably) takes special
skill to raise a child who turns from TV and enjoys reading the
classics.

Our children's choices are for many moms a reflection of their
abilities as parents.

I think those moms should get over it ;-)

Joyce

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
Date: 2007/01/07 Sun AM 10:19:28 CST
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Watching enough WITH him? WAS: Re: My 4 year old and the DVD pl


-=-Is there anything you
could encourage your child to do other than sit and watch? -=-

The fallacy is that they "sit" and watch, exclusively.

There's a lot of movement and activity, when kids aren't TOLD "sit
still and watch" (which does happen in some homes).

On the other hand, if a child is sitting in rapt attention, try not
to interrupt him. He's really concentration. Maybe he's not even
concentrating on what's on the TV, but thinking is thinking and it's
the means of learning.

-=-2 or more hour marathons eh? Not going to happen in this house,
sorry.-=-

Are you apologizing to the people on this list?

If a child read a book for two hours straight would you say "not
going to happen in this house, sorry"?

http://sandradodd.com/t/peace (something new is that that I was sent
yesterday by Dayna Martin)
http://sandradodd.com/t/holly (I added Meredith's new response there)

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Oy, I stand corrected. Thank you for pointing out so kindly my judgement and closed-mindedness.

[email protected]

A Mitch funny (my dh)
The commercials for SpongeBob were just beginning during the last few weeks of
Mitch's life-- we all giggled at them and awaited the coming of this cartoon.
When he died, the kids and I threw around the idea of daddy being reincarnated
as SpongeBob!! They have *many* of the same qualities... so if it helps you
accept it, imagine SpongeBob as a husband, hee hee hee

~diana :)

Quoting Kelli Traaseth <kellitraas@...>:

> ***I just can't bring myself to watch it all with him-even while doing
> something else while we watch. Is there just a further step to this and I
> haven't
> reached the point yet where I can watch it for hours?****
>
> It was somewhat annoying to me too,, a few years ago. Pre-unschooling. :)
>
> But gosh,, the joy that comes from that show.
>
> Here's some reasons why Kyra (ds9) loves Spongebob:
>
> 1. He's always happy.
> 2. I learned what a goober was. (She knew what goober was when playing
> Balderdash :D and a lot of adults didn't ;) (so its educational,,if that
> matters <g> And that's from the Spongebob movie. She says its a peanut, by
> the way.)
> 3. His songs are awesome. (We had to order a cd from the show. And she got
> up at the Live and Learn conference and sang one. :D)
> 4. His pet Gary always goes "meow", who is a snail. <g>
>
> I think if you can see the happiness and pleasure that comes to your child
> from these things, (shows/movies/games/music,or insert anything else that
> parents don't like), it can in turn wash over those feelings of discomfort or
> annoyance.
> And it can bring a great joy to you too. Its awesome. :)
>
>
>
>
> Kelli~
>
>
> http://ourjoyfullife.blogspot.com/
>
> "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." ~Anais Nin
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

marji

At 13:56 1/8/2007, you wrote:
>A Mitch funny (my dh)
>The commercials for SpongeBob were just beginning during the last few weeks of
>Mitch's life-- we all giggled at them and awaited the coming of this cartoon.
>When he died, the kids and I threw around the idea of daddy being reincarnated
>as SpongeBob!! They have *many* of the same qualities... so if it helps you
>accept it, imagine SpongeBob as a husband, hee hee hee
>
>~diana :)

Oh, well now, I love Spongebob **even more**! You go, squirrel! ::giggle::

Marji (Oh, man, I just love that show! I just adore all the
characters, even Plankton! Or maybe especially Plankton! But, then
there's Mr Krabs and Sandy and Pearl and Patrick and Mrs Puff and
**Squidward** (what a great name!) and Gary and Larry and ... what a
great cartoon!)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Nancy Wooton

On Jan 8, 2007, at 3:12 PM, marji wrote:

> At 13:56 1/8/2007, you wrote:
>> A Mitch funny (my dh)
>> The commercials for SpongeBob were just beginning during the last few
>> weeks of
>> Mitch's life-- we all giggled at them and awaited the coming of this
>> cartoon.
>> When he died, the kids and I threw around the idea of daddy being
>> reincarnated
>> as SpongeBob!! They have *many* of the same qualities... so if it
>> helps you
>> accept it, imagine SpongeBob as a husband, hee hee hee
>>
>> ~diana :)
>
> Oh, well now, I love Spongebob **even more**! You go, squirrel!
> ::giggle::
>
> Marji (Oh, man, I just love that show! I just adore all the
> characters, even Plankton! Or maybe especially Plankton! But, then
> there's Mr Krabs and Sandy and Pearl and Patrick and Mrs Puff and
> **Squidward** (what a great name!) and Gary and Larry and ... what a
> great cartoon!)
>

Mr. Krabs's eyeballs just crack me up!

Nancy