I am a super mom

Or, at least that's what the sarcastic comment someone made to me said. Do you know why she said I was? Because I don't think it's right or fair to plant your kid in front of a TV for 5+ hours a day. I *loved* the defense of "He only watches a max of 2 hours" after 10 shows were listed in a previous answer. I *loved* the response of "I use it as a teaching tool" when I know damn well, as soon as you could put your youngest in a bumbo, that's where he sat until your MIL took that poor baby out to help him learn how to crawl. After that, you blamed sanity. This is what independent play is for. You get a break and they keep running off that never ending cycle of energy.

I do not think I'm a super mom. Far from it. But, I refuse to let my kid's brain melt in front of a TV all day. Maybe this is why I'm exhausted all the time? If we sat on the couch and zoned out to the boob tube, I would have more energy for my husband and friends. I mean, she's just a kid... she won't remember me being an uninvolved parent at this age. I'll get more involved later....

I try very, very hard to keep my judgments to myself. My philosophy has always been "It's your kid..." And I seriously hope to keep it that way. But now I see why moms have trouble making friends with other moms.  Parent's Magazine started it with their Nick Jr sponsored post asking "What TV shows do you watch with your preschooler?" The way the question was phrased made it seem like this is the norm. Even if there really are educational shows out there, I do not want my kid's favorite teacher to be television. But, seriously, the number of shows these parents were listing off was awful. No one said just one or part of one. ** Here's my admission... we may watch 10 minutes of Elmo's World while she wakes up and drinks her milk first thing in the morning. She doesn't really even pay any attention, thankfully. Elmo is such a dumb character. After that, the TV is on for noise, typically on a music channel for dancing. ** There was always 5+. Say that show is 30 minutes long, that's 2.5 hours a day you are missing out with your kid. 12.5 hours a week if you are only subjecting them to this on the weekdays. 650 hours a year you miss out on spending quality time with your kid. That's 27 twenty-four hour days out of the year. The same kid that grows up in the blink of an eye.

Don't blame work either. Brian doesn't veg in front of the TV/computer before 8 - Kaylee's bedtime - except on planned days. He works 40+ hours a week and misses out on a lot of her learning. So every second of play he can get in, he does.

Maybe things will change when I have my second kid next month. I certainly hope not. I hope that I am still able to feed my kid anything but crap (no fast food, no sugary snacks on a regular basis, limited processed foods). I hope she never becomes addicted to TV like I was as a kid. I hope she has a healthy relationship with a computer and not an addiction like her father and I do. I hope that instead of having some screen teaching my kid her shapes, colors, animals, numbers, letters, how to read/spell, and problem solving that I have a strong role in that process. If all that I do makes me a super mom, I have to say on the basic level, that was the easiest decision I've ever made. Is it hard work? Sometimes it gets a bit challenging to keep up. But it's all worth it.

So, I have a question....
Do teachers in school just turn on a TV to teach?

And an answer....
No. And we, as parents shouldn't either.