Karin

I used to be like this with TV too. They could ONLY watch TV if their schoolwork was done, if their rooms were clean, if their chores were done, and ONLY at a certain time (4:00 p.m. - not before), never mind that their real favorite tv shows were on earlier during the day and so they missed them. I was a downright, mean mom! Yes, and then they were glued to the tv, as though it was something highly cherished and valued that I had been withholding from them (which I had been).

Now they can watch when they like. You know, they watched a little today but they are not watching it now! It's not a big deal like it used to be. And we watch some <ahem> questionable shows that may be considered inappropriate for kids. We watch Cops together, World's Scariest Places, FEAR (on MTV) and some others I can't think of now. DH and I being the slightly old-fashioned type still get uncomfortable allowing the kids to watch sexually explicit scenes, whether in movies or TV shows, so we fast-forward or channel change or cover eyes when those times comes up. But hopefully as the kids get older, we will overcome those inhibitions with our kids and be able to watch an "R" rated movie with them! (when they are in their later teens maybe)

Karin






Julie Stauffer wrote:


TV--

I used to be a big TV limiter. It was turned off daily from 9 to 5 no
matter what. Then at 5 the kids would be glued to the thing and I could get
dinner cooked without interruption. One year ago, we did away with all the
limits. The kids went nuts, spending literally hours and hours watching
television. They watched somethings that I had cautioned them against and
got scared. They watched some stuff that I cautioned against and got bored.
Now they watch television less, by choice, than they did when I limited it
(when I limited it we had 10 channels, we now have over 900). You can only
watch so many Spongebob Squarepants reruns before going outside seems more
interesting. They also monitor their own content. The kids will say they
don't want to watch something because it seems scary. They even have
potential access to erotica due to pay per view and have never watched it
(it would show up on the bill).

I think it is easy to not give kids credit to make their own decisions.

Julie







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