As much as I am SO NOT a morning person, I sort of do love mornings. Once I'm really awake and forced out of bed, and have a cup of coffee in me, I love mornings.
And this particular morning, well it really is lovely. Gus and I have the whole day ahead of us, no plans, no appointments, and loads of sunshine at our disposal.
We've had our breakfast, scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for me, a waffle and strawberries for Gus. Now Gus is downstairs playing with his trains, I've got Nancy Cassidy playing on the ipod for him, to keep him company. We've discovered that sometimes his demands for television ("Watch Tee-Bee Mama! Watch Thomas!!") can sometimes be diverted without tears if we put on some kiddie music while he plays on his own. It's an awesome trick and totally seems to work. Helps him play independently and happily for much longer, without the help of television.
I've worried in the last few weeks or so that the TV thing is starting to get out of hand. He could have cared less about it for the first nearly two years of his life, aside maybe from some PBS in the mornings or when he woke up cranky from a nap, but just recently it's ALL THE TIME. Demanding Thomas the Train or this weird little live action video that came with a book he got for his birthday showing all different kinds of farm animals running through fields and being generally adorable, with this trippy/happy music in the background and little kids talking about what each animal is called. He loves that crazy video, which he has dubbed "e-i-e-i-o".
Anyway... so yeah. Just too much TV. And the more he watches it, the more he demands it, and the more cranky he becomes. As soon as a 45 minute episode of Thomas is over, he starts screaming for more. Not cool.
So today... what should we do today? It's Friday! I am home with my boy and it's going to be a beautiful day. So much promise. I love that.
Ok, one more cup of coffee, then we're going to go have some sort of adventure. Happy Friday!
Good luck with your adventure. I'm sitting through the most boring session at the mea conference and am wishing for some adventure!
ReplyDeleteYou are becoming a blogging queen, I love it! As for the tv issue, don't worry too much! Gus seems like a very well rounded child but I hear you that is easy to worry that they watch too much TV. Colton went through it around that age as well... although for us it was Teletubbies all day everyday! Now we have moved on to video games and I always worry that he is playing them way too much - although he only plays for about 20-30 minutes a day and there are many days that I can convince him to help me with something or go play outside and totally avoid them all together. None the less I still worry that it is too much for a 5 year old. And days when he does play for way too long he becuase easily frusterated which I have read is a total side effect... kids feel like they are living a video game and always need to get to the next "level" and then when they can't do something fast enough or good enough they get very frusterated. Anyways, that is way off topic. I am sure Gus isn't watching too much TV, and what he is watching is at least age appropriate and sometimes even educational! Hope you guys enjoy your Friday - soak up some sun for me while I sit at my desk and look at it through a window!
ReplyDeleteYum, scrambled eggs and toast. And waffles and strawberries! Way better than my measly breakfast of instant oatmeal.
ReplyDeleteHope you guys are enjoying the day! It really couldn't get nicer (maybe a tad warmer, but how greedy can we really get on Oct 21st?) so hopefully you're enjoying that sunshine!
This post makes me really miss summer mornings with Lib! I hear you about the tv dilemma. Generally we can keep it off until dinnertime (she watches while I cook), but this past summer it was hard some days (especially while I was so nauseated in early pregnancy) for sure. I think you do what you do to get through the tantrum-y phases. I also read an article about how appropriately paced shows can be educational - stuff that's slow and repetitive for toddlers versus the faster-paced kid shows. Whatever makes me feel better, right? :)
ReplyDeleteMy child watches so much TV I can seriously tell the time by what TV show is playing on Nick Jr. I was a little shaken when they switched the lineup in September.
ReplyDeleteI love all of your blogging lately. I probably open my laptop once a week, so I'm sorry for my lack of comments! I'm trying to get better!! :)
We don't have Thomas here, just Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train, which though like nails on a chalkboard for me, are of mild interest to Gus. But they don't obsess him.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about that stupid Thomas? We used to have that on PBS on Sunday mornings when we were getting ready for church, and half-dressed kids would stand there staring at the TV, not brushing their teeth or finding their shoes.
GAWD. The sheer aggravation I've endured over a lifetime, no wonder I am the way I am--to quote your father in law.
I had this delusion that someday I'd figure it all out. I'm on kid ten and still baffled half the time. love you girl, Val