One of our readers asked how we approach TV time for ourselves and Little Buddy. A couple years ago, we sold our 10-year-old, 30-inch TV and bought a larger one that we found on sale for $400. In the video below, Mr. Handsome and I discuss this topic. We invite you to add your two cents in the comments section and tell us how you handle television time, whether for yourself of your children.
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Good to see you. Do you get to see your mom Lily very often? X
Thanks, Julia. We do get to see her pretty often. Little Buddy is very attached to her.
No video show up.
That’s odd because it seems like most people can see it. Thanks for letting me know. Is anyone else having an issue?
I had the same problem, but I figured out it was because I’m using the DuckDuckGo extension in my browser – if I turned off the Site Privacy Protection for the page, then the video showed up. I think probably whatever tracking is included with the video is what was being blocked. So to anyone else having an issue, you may need to turn off your ad-blocker or something.
I haven’t been able to see your last 2 videos.
Ad blocker is off. No video appears. Not a new issue for this blog, it’s been happening a long time.
I love watching Hazel, The Waltons,Little House on the Prairie. During the day. At night I watch show I had typed like movies from the Hallmark channel.
As a child of the 60’s and a teen of the 70’s, outside was the place to be except for Saturday morning cartoons. The family did watch tv at night as a family until Daddy gave us our own tvs for our rooms so we didn’t have to watch his WW2 shows. My Daddy had his own tv sales and service business. When I had my kids, it was Barney, etc. I never monitored their tv viewing time cause they played outside a lot. I watch Netflix a lot.
When our kids were little, we limited their TV watching to 2 shows a day. Each child could pick one. As they got older, we gave them the freedom to pick out a show they really wanted to watch but they had to watch it on the TV in the family room. By doing that, everyone could see what someone was watching. We never allowed our kids to have a TV in their rooms. Between school and church, they really didn’t have much time to watch TV. Now that they are grown, my kids love movies but very very seldom watch TV. My daughter is a movie buff and my son only likes to watch sports on TV.
Kelly I’m glad your not my mother you are so mean by allowing your kids 2 shows a day. My mom let us have tv’s in are rooms when we were 5. We watch TV in the living room with my mom and if my mom wanted to watch something we going in are rooms to watch what we wanted.
We brought up our 14 children without TV. We did not, do not, and never will own one. It’s just simply not good for anyone.
Kanadaiangirl, I can’t imagine not seeing history unfolding by not having a TV. You might think it’s horrible but there have been televised moments that brought us all together. JFK’s funeral and the Moon landing stand out in my memory, as does the 9/11 response. There were many more moments not quite that history-making but heartwarming nonetheless. The tear-jerking final episodes of M.A.S.H. and Mary Tyler Moore were two I’ll never forget. Nowadays with a computer, you have access to all the news (good and bad) and also TV shows. Do you think computers are simply not good for anyone either, and do you deny your children use of them? In some ways, I think computers are worse than TV because the content is less filtered and less fact-checked. You can say things on the computer that you could never say on network TV without consequences.
Does anyone in your family watch anything on an electronic device?
Common Sense Media is an excellent (and free) site that tells me what I need to know as a parent. It reviews movies, books, and TV shows. It even breaks the reviews into detailed categories such as “language”, “sexuality”, “violence”, “drug, alcohol, and cigarette use”, “positive role models”, etc. It gives thorough examples from the movie to explain the rating for each category. No guess work needed. Excellent resource!
I use that website too . It’s very helpful .
We only have a 14 month old, but she doesn’t watch TV. Occasionally we’ll have the news on or a show for us if she is occupied with her toys. I’m sure it will change over time, but we hope to keep it at a minimum.
I got my own TV when I was in 6th grade. Saved my allowance, my chore money, and my birthday money for ages – it cost $75, a fortune! That was way back when black and white was all there was. That TV was super for when I was home sick from school, and my mother would “borrow” it sometimes because it was portable and could be moved to wherever she was working in the house (while sewing, paying bills, etc.). My parents never restricted my TV viewing, but back then, you only got 3 networks and shows were heavily censored. I never restricted what my kids watched but PBS had excellent programs (Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Electric Company, Mister Rogers, etc.) that they voluntarily chose. My son learned to read by watching those shows. So TV is not all bad. It’s definitely enriched our lives and made us feel more connected with the world in a good way.
My boys enjoy watching history documentaries . We also have family move nights every Friday . I also try to do my best to look up movies as well . My boys are also huge fans of Star Wars .
When going in long trips we will play something on the DVD player and it really helps . They also read books or bring toys .
They will watch a show or part of a movie while at the dentist or when I had my Orthodontist appointments and I had to bring my kids with me .
Same here! But only 3 kids tho 😂… they know how to take care of animals, do a garden, mow and weed eat, clean a house, bake and cook, have a flower hobby business, sew a dress, do laundry, and etc etc. Now a days not many 14 and 15 year olds know how to do all that. They’re stuck to a screen. My daughters could literally get married this young and be set to run a household and business. We contribute some of it to no TV growing up and no phones till they are starting at 15. Work+valuable play time+family time= NO getting into trouble with phones.
I think you underestimate most 14 and 15 year olds. I know plenty who are quite capable in all sorts of endeavors, even with screens. That’s the age when Girl and Boy Scouts earn top awards. My son sold software he developed to a computer game company at 15. Glad I didn’t take away his screen time.
This was in response to Kanadiangirl. Somehow it got down here.
Why are you so defensive of little buddy watching tv? So you let him watch some tv, who cares!! Even if it’s not educational but simply age appropriate entertainment, it’s fine in moderation. No one is judging you for it. It’s not like you stick him in front of the tv all day and ignore him 🤦🏻♀️
So much has changed with technology since I was a young girl. Even when we became parents, we did not have to consider cell phones an issue and computers were not used until our kids were older and then only for school work. Now our grandchildren deal with so much more between cell phones, tv, internet, personal devices etc. I think it is a really complicated issue that is not black and white. I agree with so many of the comments both for and against tv! I also think tv is one aspect of our values while raising children. I think lots of other factors are more important. I think it is all about balance. I watched your vlog and enjoyed it.
I agree you shouldn’t feel bad for letting your son watch tv some , even if he has a brother or sister . It’s really not right or wrong if a parent decides to let their kids watch tv. Some parents let their kids get cell phones and some do not .
I am personally waiting longer for my kids to have one . They aren’t driving yet , so no need to have one .
I let my kids use my phone and the computer while being supervised . And it does get hard with my oldest wanting a phone since he knows a lot of kids who have one at his age .
My kids are very creative and also enjoy spending time outdoors .
I grew up as a child with my parents having the tv on all day , just for sound . My husband and I do watch tv when the kids are in bed , but we don’t really watch stuff during the day .
We definitely do screen time. Always have and always will! We really like PBS but there are cute kids shows on Netflix too. I don’t see any reasons why kids shouldn’t have any TV. I personally don’t notice any difference in intelligence or creativity with kids who were never allowed to watch tv versus who watched tv. As long as they’re not watching a screen all day long, I think it’s fine.
Both my kids are super smart, thriving, and watch tv every day.
It seems like you are making an excuse about having ‘Buddy’ watch screens because he doesn’t have a sibling….it’s fine if he is an only child, and also fine if he watches a limited amount of screen time each day. No excuses needed, it’s the times we live in and it will be important one day for littles to understand screens. But no need to shame ‘only child’ or other excuses for your reasoning.