is your tv on right now? - Creating Motherhood

I?ll be honest with you ? It is very, very common for me to have the tv on whenever W and I are home. Episode after episode of Mighty Machines or repeat viewings of Iron Giant is how I squeeze in extra pockets of time to work. This past weekend we didn?t watch much tv so when we got back to routine on Tuesday morning the, ?turn on the TV!!!!? screams were jarring.

So I made an in the moment decision, that for now I will call a trial, to go tv free with W for the rest of the week. (Obviously I NEED to watch an hour or two of my own shows after W goes to bed. Obviously.)

I have zero judgement about the amount of tv that families allow in their home. You gotta do what you gotta do. I make the choice to only allow commercial free tv air if W is watching. Usually he watches prerecorded shows from Nick Jr or PBS. This is mostly because I want to delay the, ?Mom! Buy me that!? moment that I know will happen.

What triggered the need to unplug was the realization that W could be a little bit of an asshole about tv. And because I was elbow deep in work I allowed some pretty crummy behavior to slip by. I also see just how creative W has become and I think tv time was cutting into his exploratory time.

This morning I just simply said, ?no tv today, kid?. There was one minute of pleading and then he picked up a bulldozer and started flying it around the den. After school (which I know is when he expects to watch the bulk of stuff on tv) was my big worry. On the drive home I just started talking about what we needed to do, ?so when we get home let?s look for your bathing suit so it is ready for school, and then will you help me change the sheets?, oh and I need to move some stuff around in my room ? let?s do that together!?

He didn?t ask about tv once. Not once. And his behavior was amazing.

(no idea how the rest of the week will go?)

How about you? Be honest (no one can see who you are in voting) ? how much tv is on per day at your house?

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