Comments on: Real Chat: The Convenient Babysitter with Grace Patton

By: madilla

madilla — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:54:27 +0000

I try to keep my 18 month old son away from tv for as long as possible. Lucky for me he enjoys playing on his own while I cook or do other housework and if not I set his little table up in the kitchen and give him some ingredients he can play with. But I understand that every child is different and sometimes you just need all the help you can get.

By: Jenna@CallHerHappy

Jenna@CallHerHappy — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:33:04 +0000

Love. Love. This is a great post! I was an amazing mother before I had kids. Now, I still think I’m pretty darn good, but TV finds its way in, and I am ok with it. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad mom 🙂 (Here I am rationalizing to myself again…) Anyway. Ellen started watching TV when we moved out of state. We were away from family and I never got a break during the day because of it. Mike was working long hours, the house was still in boxes, she wasn’t sleeping well. You know. The yoosh. So, I found that Elmo was calling my name. He was saying, “Jenna, just let me hang out with Ellen for an hour. You can blog. You can eat. You can shower. You can sleep.” It was so tempting. I am happy to say that I have kicked my Elmo habit, and have been clean for three weeks. Will I ever go back? Oh yes. There will be days I will need to. But, I have found that she plays pretty well on her own if need be, and showering while Ellen is whining because she wants to come in? Well, that is easy. I just turn off the baby monitor. Just kidding! Kind of…

By: Dwija {House Unseen}

Dwija {House Unseen} — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:20:38 +0000

I save the t.v. for when I need a shower. Or there’s an injured chicken that needs the undivided attention of capable humans without tiny humans helping. When the weather was bad and they watched too much, I found we didn’t actually get any more done. There was just a lot more sitting. It’s a weird thing that it does to them, for sure.

By: Maia McDonald

Maia McDonald — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:39:39 +0000

Great post! I was raised without cable and when I got to be school aged we were allowed a movie on the weakends. And I think it allowed me to grow into the creative person I am today, but as for how I’m going to be with any future children, that remains to be seen. I hope to use the tv babysitter as infrequently as possible, but it’s always easy to say what you’ll do when you’re not in that situation yet 🙂

By: Meggy

Meggy — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:55:10 +0000

Great post, Grace! You both are two amazing mamas. I'm in the early stages of motherhood - mine is 5 mos old today! Already he gravitates to the TV (or any screen for that matter), turning his head whenever it's on. But we haven't established any parking in front of it (YET), as he still gets entertained by watching me get ready or playing with his toys. I think I'll adopt the one show in the morning philosophy and for rare/special occasions. I'm sure it's hard not to default to that though... Motherhood is no joke and hard work, that's for sure!

Meggy from Chasing Davies and Chasing Babies

By: alignaCristina from SomekindofParadise

alignaCristina from SomekindofParadise — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:15:59 +0000

What a great post and really honest too!:) With our 3 older kids its one movie a day if they want to watch. And thats after chores are done and if they even remember that we have the TV since we don’t have cable and our internet moves slower then a turtle so Netflix is out for us. But can i say that when they were little especially my twin boys who are now 10 they loved there veggie tales and yes sometimes mama needed that time so desperately:) So i guess i would say Mama’s out there don’t be so hard on yourselves! Everything in moderation and take your kids to the library:) My kids love reading a good book just as much if not more then a show:))

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:33:13 +0000

HI I just found you through Camp Patton, nice to meet ya! I went to FUS too, just a little before your time...ahem.

What we have always done for our children is ONE show a day. They get to watch a half hour each night after dinner and before bed, which calms them down and lets my hubby and I clean the kitchen, make lunches, etc.

I have to say that after 10 years or parenting, the one tv show a day has had lots of benefits. (They only watch PBS) They have learned a lot and laugh together as siblings. Now we have started to treat them on weekends by letting them watch one movie either on Sat night (they get to stay up a little later, which they love) or Sun afternoon in lieu of a nap. This way they can still see current movies and our old favorites, and they really appreciate their screen time because it's so rare!